
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The plan for the Minnesota Vikings was to bring in Sam Darnold as the bridge between Kirk Cousins and J.J. McCarthy, confident his strong arm and starting experience would sufficiently run a high-caliber offense until the rookie was deemed ready to play. Darnold’s performance to date has been much closer to superstar than mere stopgap. “He’s a baller,” Vikings safety Harrison Smith said. “He can make stuff happen when he needs to. I know with the outside narrative on him and his path and everything, you might not think that, but ever since he got here, it felt like that was going to happen.” Having led the Vikings (10-2) to their fifth consecutive victory with the go-ahead touchdown pass against Arizona last week, one game after a stellar overtime drive to beat Chicago , Darnold has become one of the darlings of this NFL this season with his success in coach Kevin O’Connell’s system after the third overall pick in the 2018 draft started his career in rather bleak fashion. His first year in Minnesota sure has been smoother than what Cousins has gone through in his debut with the Atlanta Falcons . Last week in a loss at home to the Los Angeles Chargers, Cousins matched his career high with four interceptions. RELATED COVERAGE Giants will try to snap a 7-game losing streak when they host the Saints Rookie Bucky Irving relishes opportunity to help Buccaneers any way he can against skidding Raiders The Titans have issues to fix and hope to keep slim playoff hopes alive when they host the Jags “I don’t think anybody can put any more pressure on Kirk than he has for himself. He’s carried us through this season when we were figuring out a lot of things on defense,” Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett said. “He’s just having a hard time right now. There’s nothing to say he can’t catch fire and light it up like he’s been doing.” The Falcons (6-6) take their three-game losing streak on the road to face the Vikings, with division races for both teams in full swing. The quarterback contrasts have made this matchup all the more intriguing, with Cousins coming back to the place where he spent the previous six seasons. The AP Top 25 college football poll is back every week throughout the season! Get the poll delivered straight to your inbox with AP Top 25 Poll Alerts. Sign up here . Cousins has a $25 million salary cap hit this season, the 11th-highest among quarterbacks in the league. Even if the Falcons were to move on in 2026 and swallow the dead money for two more years with eighth overall pick Michael Penix Jr. waiting in the wings, Cousins will carry a $40 million charge in 2025. Darnold’s cap charge is $5 million this season, just 31st on the list. Though he will become a free agent in March, the Vikings structured his contract with void years to spread his cap hit into next season for another $5 million. McCarthy, the 10th overall pick, won’t be ready until next year after having surgery to repair the meniscus he tore in his right knee in his first preseason game. Though Darnold has had a couple of clunkers this year, the Vikings still won those games and he’s bounced back strong without letting interceptions linger into future decisions. “He’s kind of found a little balance, at least the last few weeks, of ‘When is it too risky?’ and ‘When can I take my shot at something?’” offensive coordinator Wes Phillips said. The Falcons have seen as much on tape. “I think he’s playing free,” Pro Bowl safety Jessie Bates said. “It’s not a lot of complicated throws or anything that he’s doing. I just think that he’s finally able to feel comfortable in himself.” Acknowledging the moment Falcons coach Raheem Morris decided to address the significance of Cousins’ homecoming with the team, bracing for the type of crowd reaction that will only intensify the noise at U.S. Bank Stadium that’s already daunting for opponents. Minnesota’s defense has thrived this season at home, using the fans to enhance the effectiveness of a disguise-based, aggressive scheme that leads the league with 18 interceptions and has also been adept at rushing the passer and stuffing the run. “The environment they create up in Minnesota is absolutely outstanding,” Morris said. Cousins isn’t the only key figure from the Falcons who’s well-known to Vikings coaches. Morris was the defensive coordinator in 2021 with the Los Angeles Rams when O’Connell was the offensive coordinator and Phillips was the tight ends coach on that Super Bowl champion team. Listen to your mother Vikings running back Aaron Jones has fumbled three times in the last two games, losing two of them, but he hasn’t lost the confidence of coaches or teammates as evidenced by the pass called for his go-ahead touchdown catch against the Cardinals. Family is a strong support system for him, too, but sometimes that means tough love. His mother, Vurgess Jones, let him have it after the game when they talked about the turnovers. “I was like, ‘I’ve got to learn from it,’” Jones said. “She was like, ‘You didn’t learn last week?’” He has matched his career high in 2024 with five fumbles and three lost, a fact not lost on a Falcons defense that’s aggressive with dislodging techniques despite only four recovered fumbles in 12 games. “You can see it all over the tape: Those guys are coaching it,” Phillips said. Greenard is going strong Vikings outside linebacker Jonathan Greenard, who was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Month after racking up eight tackles for loss in November, carried his pass-rushing mojo into December with a couple of clutch plays in the final minute to preserve the victory over Arizona. Greenard has 10 of the team’s 39 sacks. “How many times this year has he affected the quarterback, drawn a penalty, sacked the quarterback, strip-sacked like last week in these critical moments where you need your best players to go make those plays?” O’Connell said. “He’s done it time and time again.” Bijan is busy Falcons running back Bijan Robinson set a career high last week with 26 carries. He had 102 yards rushing and was again a significant part of the passing attack with six catches against the Chargers. “I just do whatever I can to help us as a team,” said Robinson, who’s fifth in the NFL with 1,277 combined yards from scrimmage. “I just trust whatever they have in the plan.” ___ AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFLGeorge R. R. Martin Isn't Sure He'll Ever Finish The Winds of Winter, 'but That's Still a Priority'
Healthcare giant Optum has restricted access to an internal AI chatbot used by employees after a security researcher found it was publicly accessible online, and anyone could access it using only a web browser. The chatbot, which TechCrunch has seen, allowed employees to ask the company questions about how to handle patient health insurance claims and disputes for members in line with the company’s standard operating procedures (SOPs). While the chatbot did not appear to contain or produce sensitive personal or protected health information, its inadvertent exposure comes at a time when its parent company, health insurance conglomerate UnitedHealthcare, faces scrutiny for its use of artificial intelligence tools and algorithms to allegedly override doctors’ medical decisions and deny patient claims . Mossab Hussein, chief security officer and co-founder of cybersecurity firm spiderSilk, alerted TechCrunch to the publicly exposed internal Optum chatbot, dubbed “SOP Chatbot.” Although the tool was hosted on an internal Optum domain and could not be accessed from its web address, its IP address was public and accessible from the internet and did not require users to enter a password. It’s not known for how long the chatbot was publicly accessible from the internet. The AI chatbot became inaccessible from the internet soon after TechCrunch contacted Optum for comment on Thursday. Optum spokesperson Andrew Krejci told TechCrunch in a statement that Optum’s SOP chatbot “was a demo tool developed as a potential proof of concept” but was “never put into production and the site is no longer accessible.” “The demo was intended to test how the tool responds to questions on a small sample set of SOP documents,” the spokesperson said. The company confirmed there was no protected health information used in the bot or its training. “This tool does not and would never make any decisions, but only enable better access to existing SOPs. In short, this technology was never scaled nor used in any real way,” said the spokesperson. AI chatbots, like Optum’s, are typically designed to produce answers based on whatever data the chatbot was trained on. In this case, the chatbot was trained on internal Optum documents relating to SOPs for handling certain claims, which can help Optum employees answer questions about claims and their eligibility to be reimbursed. The Optum documents were hosted on UnitedHealthcare’s corporate network and inaccessible without an employee login but are cited and referenced by the chatbot when prompted about their contents. According to statistics displayed on the chatbot’s main dashboard, Optum employees have used SOP Chatbot hundreds of times since September. The chatbot also stored a history of the hundreds of conversations that Optum employees had with the chatbot during that time. The chat history shows Optum employees would ask the chatbot things like “What should be the determination of the claim?” and “How do I check policy renewal date?” Some of the files that the chatbot references include handling the dispute process and eligibility screening, TechCrunch has seen. The chatbot also produced responses that showed, when asked, reasons for typically denying coverage. Like many AI models, Optum’s chatbot was capable of producing answers to questions and prompts outside of the documents it was trained on. Some Optum employees appeared intrigued by the chatbot, prompting the bot with queries like “Tell me a joke about cats” (which it refused: “There’s no joke available”). The chat history also showed several attempts by employees to “ jailbreak ” the chatbot by making it produce answers that are unrelated to the chatbot’s training data. When TechCrunch asked the chatbot to “write a poem about denying a claim,” the chatbot produced a seven-paragraph stanza, which reads in part: In the realm of healthcare’s grand domain Where policies and rules often constrain A claim arrives, seeking its due But alas, its fate is to bid adieu. The provider hopes, with earnest plea, For payment on a service spree, Yet scrutiny reveals the tale, And reasons for denial prevail. UnitedHealthcare, which owns Optum, faces criticism and legal action for its use of artificial intelligence to allegedly deny patient claims. Since the targeted killing of UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson in early December, news outlets have reported floods of reports of patients expressing anguish and frustration over denials of their healthcare coverage by the health insurance giant. The conglomerate — the largest private provider of healthcare insurance in the United States — was sued earlier this year for allegedly denying critical health coverage to patients who lost access to healthcare, citing a STAT News investigation . The federal lawsuit accuses UnitedHealthcare of using an AI model with a 90% error rate “in place of real medical professionals to wrongfully deny elderly patients care.” UnitedHealthcare, for its part, said it would defend itself in court. UnitedHealth Group, the corporate owner of UnitedHealthcare and Optum, made $22 billion in profit on revenues of $371 billion in 2023, its earnings show.10 Best Christmas Horror Games on Steam
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Federal minister: Rare disease drugs a go as Alberta moves on dental care and PharmaCareTORONTO, Dec. 05, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Xtract One Technologies Inc. (TSX: XTRA) (OTCQX: XTRAF) (FRA: 0PL) (“Xtract One” or the “Company”) a leading technology-driven threat detection and security solution that prioritizes the patron access experience by leveraging AI, today announced fiscal first quarter results for the three months ended October 31, 2024. All information is in Canadian dollars unless otherwise indicated. “As expected, first quarter revenue, while up year-over-year, was a little lighter in new bookings than recent periods reflecting order timing, as we focused on bringing Xtract One Gateway to market and actively engaged in business development initiatives to build our pipeline for the remainder of fiscal 2025,” stated Peter Evans, Chief Executive Officer of Xtract One. “We continue to win customers outside of our core sports and live entertainment markets, welcoming new clients in the Education, Healthcare, and Manufacturing sectors, which made up 67% of the total contract value of new bookings this quarter. Demand remains strong as evidenced by our growing sales pipeline, and we’ve been pleased with the initial response of our newly announced Xtract One Gateway, particularly in high-traffic facilities like schools, convention centers, and commercial properties where we offer a highly differentiated solution. We expect to see revenue accelerate as the year progresses and continue to make progress on our path to profitability.” Consolidated revenue was $3.6 million for the three months ended October 31, 2024 as compared to $3.1 million for the same period last year, reflecting new business contract wins and a greater number of installations. Gross profit was $2.3 million, or a margin of 64%, in the fiscal 2025 first quarter versus $2.1 million, or 67% of sales, in the prior-year period. Comprehensive loss was $2.7 million for the three month period ended October 31, 2024 as compared to $2.7 million for the same period in fiscal 2024. This reflects higher revenue and gross profit, largely offset by an increase in operating expenses. This press release should be read in conjunction with the Company’s Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Interim Financial Statements, prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”) and the Company’s Management’s Discussion and Analysis for the three month periods ended October 31, 2024 and 2023, which can be found on the Company’s website and under the Company’s profile on SEDAR+ at . Xtract One will host a conference call to discuss its results tomorrow, December 6, 2024 at 10:00 am EST. Peter Evans, Xtract One CEO and Director, and Karen Hersh, CFO and Corporate Secretary, will provide an overview of the interim financial results along with management’s outlook for the business, followed by a question-and-answer period. The webcast and presentation will be accessible on the company’s website. The and the telephone number for the conference call is 844-481-3016 (412-317-1881 for international callers). is a leading technology-driven threat detection and security solution leveraging AI to provide seamless and secure patron access control experiences. The Company makes unobtrusive threat detection systems that enable facility building operators to prioritize and deliver “Walk-right-In” experiences while providing unprecedented safety. Xtract One’s innovative portfolio of AI-powered Gateway solutions excels at allowing facilities to discreetly screen and identify weapons and other threats at points of entry and exit without disrupting the flow of traffic. With solutions built to serve the unique market needs for schools, hospitals, arenas, stadiums, manufacturing, distribution, and other customers, Xtract One is recognized as a market leader delivering the highest security in combination with the best individual experience. For more information, visit or connect on , , and . , Kristen Aikey, JMG Public Relations, 212-206-1645, Chris Witty, Darrow Associates, 646-438-9385, The Company utilizes specific supplementary financial measures in this earnings release to allow for a better evaluation of the operating performance of the Company’s business and facilitates meaningful comparison of results in the current period with those in prior periods and future periods. Supplementary financial measures do not have any standardized meaning prescribed under IFRS and therefore may not be comparable to measures presented by other companies. Supplementary financial measures presented in this earnings release include ‘Agreements pending installation’ and ‘Total contract value of new bookings.’ Agreements pending installation reflects total value of signed contracts awarded to the Company that has not been installed at the customer site. ‘Total contract value of new bookings’ is comprised of all new contracts signed and awarded to the Company, regardless of the performance obligations outstanding as of the end of the reporting period. Total contract value is the aggregate value of sales commitments from customers as at the end of the reporting period without consideration of the Company’s completion of the associated performance obligations outlined in each contract. : This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as “will”, “may”, “should”, “anticipates”, “expects”, “believes”, and similar expressions or the negative of these words or other comparable terminology. All statements other than statements of historical fact, included in this release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company’s expectations include but are not limited to the risks detailed from time to time in the continuous disclosure filings made by the Company with securities regulations. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company will update or revise publicly any of the included forward-looking statements only as expressly required by applicable law. No securities exchange or commission has reviewed or accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. The following table is extracted from the Company’s unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements and presented in Canadian dollars to demonstrate the Statements of Loss and Comprehensive loss for the three months ended October 31, 2024 and 2023: The following table is extracted from the Company’s unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements and presented in Canadian dollars to demonstrate the Company’s financial position as at October 31, 2024 and July 31, 2024: The following table is extracted from the Company’s unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements and presented in Canadian dollars to demonstrate the Company’s cash flows for the three month periods ended October 31, 2024 and 2023:
Fresh pain for woman who was held captive and tortured by monster Ariel Castro By ISHITA SRIVASTAVA FOR DAILYMAIL.COM Published: 22:11 GMT, 22 November 2024 | Updated: 22:11 GMT, 22 November 2024 e-mail View comments A woman who was miraculously rescued from her rapist captor over a decade ago is facing fresh pain after having her animal shelter raided. Michelle Knight, now known as Lily Rose Lee, got the idea to start an animal rescue during the 10 years she spent in captivity at the hands of Ariel Castro in Cleveland, Ohio . Lee, who founded Unleashed Animal Rescue in Elyria, Ohio, after she was freed in 2013, was left heartbroken after authorities raided the shelter Wednesday and took away nearly two dozen of the animals. 'I got a huge hole in my heart,' told Cleveland 19 News. 'They took all of my exotic birds, all my exotic bunnies, they took my support animal and they took my little dog.' The search warrant from Lorain County stated that the animals were facing cruelty, though Lee claims she never received any warnings before the raid. Lee explained that she received a notice from Friendship Animal Protective League saying that her animals were living in unsanitary conditions, had dirty water and that she had an emaciated dog. 'You hurt innocent animals and you hurt innocent people and I don't understand. If there was something so wrong with the living conditions and the way my animals were kept, they didn't take all of them,' she added. Michelle Knight, now known as Lily Rose Lee, got the idea to start an animal rescue during the 10 years she spent in captivity at the hands of Ariel Castro in Cleveland, Ohio 'I have lived a life of tremendous torture, problems and a lot of different things, but what made me start this rescue was Lobo,' Lee recalled. 'When I was held captive, he gave me a dog and when I tried to escape he broke that dog's neck right in front of me it destroyed my heart. 'I told myself if I ever got out of the house that I would continue God's work and I would open up a rescue.' Lee was one of three women held captive in Castro's Ohio home, where she suffered five forced miscarriages and lived in chains for over a decade. She was 21 when she was kidnapped and imprisoned in 2002. Castro lured her into his car by informing her that he knew the directions to a social services meeting that she needed to attend. He then persuaded her to go into his house by claiming his dog had just given birth, convincing Lee that she should take one of the puppies back for her toddler son. Once inside the property, Castro locked her in an upstairs bedroom, chained her up with extension cords and masturbated over her. He then strapped a sock to her mouth with duct tape and left. Lee, who founded Unleashed Animal Rescue in Elyria, Ohio, after she was freed in 2013, was left heartbroken after authorities raided the shelter Wednesday and took away nearly two dozen of the animals 'I got a huge hole in my heart. They took all of my exotic birds, all my exotic bunnies, they took my support animal and they took my little dog,' Lee said A search warrant stated that the animals were facing cruelty, though Lee she claims she had never received warnings before the raid Lee, was one of three women held captive in the home of Ariel Castro (pictured), where she suffered five forced miscarriages and lived in chains for over a decade The other two captives were Gina DeJesus, who was abducted on April 2, 2004, at the age 14, and Amanda Berry, who went missing a day before her 17th birthday on April 21, 2003. Berry was kidnapped while she was walking home from work. Castro, who worked as an elementary school bus driver, approached her in his vehicle and asked if she needed a ride home. Berry, who knew Castro as the father of her classmate and friend from middle school, agreed. He ended up inviting her inside his home to hang out with his daughter, Arlene. Once she went in, she wouldn't leave for years. 'He took me to the next bedroom, and it was just really dark in there, and he didn't turn on the lights, and there was a little, like, a little room off of the bigger bedroom, kind of a big closet,' Berry remembered. 'And he took me in there, and he told me to pull down my pants. And from there I knew, like, this was not going to be good.' Castro chained her to a pole and left her in a dark room with a television on. The other two captives were Gina DeJesus, who was abducted on April 2, 2004, at the age 14, and Amanda Berry, who went missing a day before her 17th birthday on April 21, 2003 A week after Berry went missing, Castro called her family using her cell phone to taunt them 'I just started screaming and crying... "Somebody please help me," you know. And nobody, nobody came. I was so scared that I was going to die. I didn't think that I was going to ever make it home,' Berry explained. A week after Berry went missing, Castro called her family with her cell phone to taunt them. 'He called and said, "I have Mandy," which, nobody called her Mandy but [people] who knew her, her sister Beth Serrano said. "'She wants to be with me.'" The FBI was able to narrow down the phone's location to a 30- to 40-block area, but despite exhaustive search measures, they were unable to find Berry. Castro approached Gina DeJesus in a similar fashion as she was walking home. She was good friends with Castro's daughter. Once she entered his home, she became unnerved by Castro's behavior. 'He was, like, fixing his eyebrows and, like, trimming his mustache and, like, cutting his nose hairs,' DeJesus said. 'He's like, starts like, to, like, touch me and stuff, and then I'm like, "What are you doing? You could go to jail.'" 'He just switches up like, "Well, OK, we're going to, you're going to go home now. But you can't go through the same door you came in."' The women were forced to live in squalid, filthy conditions where they were chained in their rooms, their bedrooms locked, were barely fed and given buckets to use as toilets DeJesus tried to fight him off and screamed for help when he brought her to the basement and chained her up. Her cries were drowned out by radios playing in his basement and living room. 'He, would take my hair and like, put it in his mouth. ... I don't know why he did it but it was gross,' she said. DeJesus said the first time Castro raped her was on May 7, 2004. Berry tried to record how many times he raped her in her diary by using a code. 'I would always write these numbers at the top of the pages, because I felt like, you know, one day maybe authorities will get to read it. And he'll be punished for what he did,' Berry said. The women were forced to live in squalid, filthy conditions where they were chained in their rooms, their bedrooms locked, were barely fed and given buckets to use as a toilets. 'He was always there watching every move, it was like he knew everything, every move that we did,' DeJesus said in a sit-down interview with ABC's 2020 in January 2020. 'The mattress was old and nasty, and it was just disgusting. And we had the bucket to use the bathroom, and that smelled horrible,' Berry added. 'The mattress was old and nasty, and it was just disgusting. And we had the bucket to use the bathroom, and that smelled horrible,' Berry said Berry became pregnant by Castro when she was 20 and gave birth to her daughter, Jocelyn, on Christmas in 2006 The women were fed once a day but were given only chips or crackers or other snacks as meals. They were only allowed to shower once a week While imprisoned in an upstairs bedroom and, later, the basement at Castro's home, Lee was repeatedly beaten up and raped by her attacker , resulting in her becoming pregnant five times. Each time, Castro would punch and starve her until she miscarried. Berry became pregnant by Castro when she was 20 and gave birth to a daughter, Jocelyn, on Christmas in 2006. Read More Prince William wrote to three victims of Ariel Castro's House of Horrors after revealing they watched his fairytale wedding to Kate Middleton while in captivity 'I was terrified. How? I mean, I barely eat and I'm chained to a wall, and I have a bucket for a bathroom,' Berry said. She said life in captivity changed for her with the birth of her daughter. She noted Castro even became kinder and took off her chains after her daughter started to notice them. She told Jocelyn the chains were bracelets, per Castro's orders. 'This is his kid, you know. How do I feel about that? And she resembled him a lot, and I would look at her, and I just felt, like, she's mine. She's mine,' Berry said. 'It was fun because I can get away from the situation. When I was playing with Jocelyn, Jocelyn made me forget everything.' The women were fed once a day but were given only chips or crackers or other snacks as meals. They were only allowed to shower once a week. While imprisoned in an upstairs bedroom and, later, the basement at Castro's home, Lee was repeatedly beaten up and raped by her attacker , resulting in her becoming pregnant five times Pictured: The basement pole the girls were all chained to throughout their time in captivity 'I mean, he tried to act nice, but he's like, "Well, maybe you need to go take a shower," and I had to take a shower with him,' Berry recalled. After years of abuse, they were finally able to escape on May 6, 2013. They were left alone for the first time in 11 years with a bedroom door unlocked and Amanda managed to leave the home with Jocelyn and call 911 from a neighbor, Charles Ramsey's, phone. Ramsey said at the time that he saw Berry, who he didn't recognize, at a door that would open only enough to fit a hand through, screaming, ' Help me get out! I've been in here a long time.' 'We had to kick open the bottom,' he said. 'Lucky on that door it was aluminum. It was cheap. She climbed out with her daughter.' As Amanda fled the home and ran across the street to call police, the two other women followed her out when law enforcement arrived. 'Help me! I'm Amanda Berry... I've been kidnapped and I've been missing for ten years and I'm here. I'm free now,' Berry is heard saying in the call to police. 'I need them now before he gets back!' she said in the frantic phone call to 911, going on to identify her captor as Castro. Pictured: The house on Seymour Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio, on May 7, 2013, where Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight were found alive Ariel Castro was sentenced to life plus 1,000 years, in prison on August 1, 2013 after he pleaded guilty to 937 counts of kidnapping and rape Recalling her escape from Castro's home, Lee said: 'The first moment of freedom was very difficult for me as I was going through a lot of different things. 'I saw that police badge and I just ran into their arms and said "never let me go, never let me go."' 'When I was telling [first responders] my name, they looked like they'd seen a ghost or something. Like their face completely dropped,' DeJesus said of the moment police realized they finally found the three women. Castro was sentenced to life plus 1,000 years, in prison on August 1, 2013 after he pleaded guilty to 937 counts of kidnapping and rape. On September 3, 2013, one month into his sentence, he was found dead in his prison cell after committing suicide. Ohio Share or comment on this article: Fresh pain for woman who was held captive and tortured by monster Ariel Castro e-mail Add commentTua Tagovailoa has brutally honest explanation for Dolphins' issues
Get ready for a college football bowl season like you’ve never seen. It’s the first year of the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff to determine the national champion, with first-round games kicking off Friday, December 20. In the new format, the top four conference champions (Oregon, Georgia, Arizona State and Boise State) receive a first-round bye and automatic entry into the quarterfinals. The remaining eight teams play in the four-game first round, with matchups held at the home stadiums of the higher-ranked participants. The “New Year’s Six” bowls serve as the quarterfinals and semifinals, with the national championship decided Monday, January 20, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Of course, there’s still plenty of college football postseason action through early January that doesn’t involve the national championship chase. The parade of bowl games begins Saturday, December 14, with the Cricket Celebration Bowl in Atlanta. A great tradition continues in Landover, Maryland, as the Navy Midshipmen take on the Army Black Knights Saturday on CBS at 3/2c. Later on Saturday, the Heisman Trophy is presented to the season’s most outstanding player in a ceremony on ESPN at 8/7c. Finalists are Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel, Colorado WR/CB Travis Hunter, Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty (pictured above) and Miami QB Cam Ward. Here’s your complete lineup of College Football Playoff games and other bowl matchups: All times Eastern/Central. Friday, December 20 No. 10 Indiana at No. 7 Notre Dame, ABC/ESPN, 8/7c Saturday, December 21 No. 11 SMU at No. 6 Penn State, noon/11a c, TNT/Max No. 12 Clemson at No. 5 Texas, 4/3c, TNT/Max No. 9 Tennessee at No. 8 Ohio State, 8/7c, ABC/ESPN Tuesday, December 31 Vrbo Fiesta Bowl (Glendale, Arizona): TBA vs. No. 3 Boise State, (ESPN) Wednesday, Jan. 1 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (Atlanta): TBA vs. No. 4 Arizona State, 1/noon c, ESPN Rose Bowl (Pasadena, California): TBA vs. No. 1 Oregon, 5/4c, ESPN Allstate Sugar Bowl (New Orleans): TBA vs. No. 2 Georgia, 8:45/7:45c, ESPN Thursday, January 9 Capital One Orange Bowl (Miami, Florida): TBA vs. TBA, 7:30/6:30c, ESPN Friday, January 10 Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic (Arlington, Texas): TBA vs. TBA, 7:30/6:30c, ESPN Monday, January 20 National Championship (Atlanta): TBA vs. TBA, 7:30/6:30c, ESPN Saturday, December 14 Cricket Celebration Bowl (Atlanta): Jackson State vs. South Carolina State, noon/11a c, ABC IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl (Montgomery, Alabama): South Alabama vs. Western Michigan, 9/8c, ESPN Tuesday, December 17 Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl (Frisco, Texas): Memphis vs. West Virginia, 9/8c, ESPN Wednesday, December 18 Boca Raton Bowl (Boca Raton, Florida): Western Kentucky vs. James Madison, 5:30/4:30c, ESPN Art of Sport LA Bowl (Inglewood, California): Cal vs. UNLV, 9/8c, ESPN Thursday, December 19 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl (New Orleans): Georgia Southern vs. Sam Houston, 7/6c, ESPN2 Friday, December 20 StaffDNA Cure Bowl (Orlando, Florida): Ohio vs. Jacksonville State, noon/11a c, ESPN Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl (Tampa, Florida): 3:30/2:30c, ESPN Monday, December 23 Myrtle Beach Bowl (Conway, South Carolina): Coastal Carolina vs. UTSA, 11a/10a c, ESPN Famous Idaho Potato Bowl (Boise, Idaho): Northern Illinois vs. Fresno State, 2:30/1:30c, ESPN Tuesday, December 24 Hawai’i Bowl (Honolulu): South Florida vs. San José State, 8/7c, ESPN Thursday, December 26 GameAbove Sports Bowl (Detroit): Pittsburgh vs. Toledo, 2/1xc, ESPN Rate Bowl (Phoenix): Rutgers vs. Kansas State, 5:30/4:30c, ESPN 68 Ventures Bowl (Mobile, Alabama): Arkansas State vs. Bowling Green, 9/8c, ESPN Friday, December 27 Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl (Fort Worth, Texas): Oklahoma vs. Navy, noon/11a c, ESPN Birmingham Bowl (Birmingham, Alabama): Georgia Tech vs. Vanderbilt, 3:30/2:30c, ESPN AutoZone Liberty Bowl (Memphis, Tennessee): Texas Tech vs. Arkansas, 7/6c, ESPN DirecTV Holiday Bowl (San Diego): Syracuse vs. Washington State, 8/7c, Fox SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl (Las Vegas): Texas A&M vs. USC, 10:30/9:30c, ESPN Saturday, December 28 Wasabi Fenway Bowl (Boston): UConn vs. North Carolina, 11a/10a c, ESPN Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl (Bronx, New York): Boston College vs. Nebraska, Noon/11a c, ABC Isleta New Mexico Bowl (Albuquerque, New Mexico): Louisiana vs. TCU, 2:15/1:15c, ESPN Pop-Tarts Bowl (Orlando, Florida): Iowa State vs. Miami, 3:30/2:30c, ABC Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl (Tucson, Arizona): Miami (Ohio) vs. Colorado State, 4:30/3:30c, The CW Go Bowling Military Bowl (Annapolis, Maryland): East Carolina vs. NC State, 5:45/4:45c, ESPN Valero Alamo Bowl (San Antonio): BYU vs. Colorado, 7:30/6:30c, ABC Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl (Shreveport, Louisiana): Marshall vs. Army, 9:15/8:15c, ESPN Monday, December 30 TransPerfect Music City Bowl (Nashville, Tennessee): Iowa vs. Missouri, 2:30/1:30c, ESPN Tuesday, December 31 ReliaQuest Bowl (Tampa, Florida): Alabama vs. Michigan, noon/11a c, ESPN Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl (El Paso, Texas): Louisville vs. Washington, 2/1c, CBS Cheez-It Citrus Bowl (Orlando, Florida): South Carolina vs. Illinois, 3/2c, ABC Kinder’s Texas Bowl (Houston): Baylor vs. LSU, 3:30/2:30c, ESPN Thursday, January 2 TaxSlayer Gator Bowl (Jacksonville, Florida): Duke vs. Ole Miss, 7:30/6:30c, ESPN Friday, January 3 SERVPRO First Responder Bowl (Dallas): North Texas vs. Texas State, 4/3c, ESPN Duke’s Mayo Bowl (Charlotte, North Carolina): Minnesota vs. Virginia Tech, 7:30/6:30c, ESPN Saturday, January 4 Bahamas Bowl (Nassau, Bahamas): Buffalo vs. Liberty, 11a/10a c, ESPN2 More Headlines:Thousands of Syrians gathered in Damascus’ main square and a historic mosque for the first Muslim Friday prayers since former President Bashar Assad was overthrown , a major symbolic moment for the country’s dramatic change of power. The rebels are now working to establish security and start a political transition after seizing the capital on Sunday. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made an unannounced visit to Iraq on Friday, pressing ahead with efforts to unify Middle East nations in support of a peaceful political transition in Syria. It’s part of Blinken’s 12th trip to the Mideast since the Israel-Hamas war erupted last year in Gaza but his first after Assad was ousted. The U.S. is also making a renewed push for an ceasefire in Gaza, where the war has plunged more than 2 million Palestinians into a severe humanitarian crisis. Israel’s war against Hamas has killed over 44,800 Palestinians in Gaza, more than half of them women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not say how many were combatants. The Israeli military says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence. The October 2023 Hamas attack that sparked the war killed some 1,200 people in Israel, mostly civilians, and around 250 others were taken hostage. Some 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead. Here's the latest: BEIRUT — Israeli warplanes launched airstrikes on Friday against sites in several cities in Syria, an opposition war monitor reported. Associated Press journalists heard loud explosions throughout the Syrian capital Damascus. There were no immediate reports of casualties. The strikes hit the summit of Mount Qasioun in Damascus, Khalkhala Airport in the countryside of Sweida and the Defense and Research Laboratories in Masyaf, located in the western countryside of Hama, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Earlier on Friday, Israeli strikes targeted six military sites in the countryside of Damascus and Sweida, the observatory said. Israel has conducted hundreds of airstrikes since the toppling of the Syrian regime, saying it seeks to neutralize potential threats following the ouster of Bashar Assad. The strikes have targeted weapons production sites, anti-aircraft batteries and airfields. Israel has also moved troops to occupy a buffer zone in the Golan Heights on its border with Syria. DAMASCUS, Syria — Russian forces and military vehicles were seen withdrawing from southern Syria on Friday toward their primary base in in the coastal city of Latakia. The Russian troop movement comes amid questions about whether Moscow will still be able to project power in the Middle East after the fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad. His rule was supported by Russia and he received asylum in Russia after being toppled Sunday. There are also questions about what a Russian pullback in Syria could mean for the war in Ukraine. Significant Russian military convoys were seen on the Damascus-Homs highway near Shinshar village heading north. The military vehicles, bearing Russian flags, included tanks and armored personnel carriers. The military equipment had been previously stationed in southern regions such as Daraa and Damascus. On Thursday, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that Russian forces were leaving bases in Ain Issa and Tel Al-Samn in the Al-Raqqah countryside. Satellite images released by Maxar Technologies on Friday show what appear to be cargo planes at a Russian military airfield in Syria with their nose cones opened to receive heavy equipment, along with helicopters being dismantled and prepared for transport. Earlier this week, all Russian naval ships departed the Syrian port of Tartus, according to a U.S. official. ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey's embassy in the Syrian capital of Damascus will reopen on Saturday for the first time since 2012, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Friday. In an interview with Turkey’s NTV television Fidan said a newly appointed interim charge d’affaires had left for Damascus on Friday together with his delegation. “It will be operational as of tomorrow,” he said. The embassy in Damascus had suspended operations in 2012 due to the escalating security conditions during the Syrian civil war. All embassy staff and their families were recalled to Turkey. The Syrian insurgents who overthrew Syrian President Bashar Assad on Sunday did so with vital help from Turkey. WASHINGTON — The U.S. military has transported out of Syria an American who disappeared seven months ago into former President Bashar Assad’s notorious prison system and was among the thousands released this week by rebels, a U.S. official said Friday. Travis Timmerman was flown out of Syria on a U.S. military helicopter, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing operation. Timmerman, 29, told The Associated Press he had gone to Syria on a Christian pilgrimage and was not ill-treated while in Palestine Branch, a notorious detention facility operated by Syrian intelligence. He said he was freed by “the liberators who came into the prison and knocked the door down (of his cell) with a hammer.” Timmerman said he was released Monday morning alongside a young Syrian man and 70 female prisoners, some of whom had their children with them. He had been held separately from Syrian and other Arab prisoners and said he didn’t know of any other Americans held in the facility. — By Lolita C. Baldor THE HAGUE, Netherlands — A Dutch court on Friday rejected a bid from human rights groups to block weapons exports to Israel and trading with the occupied territories, after finding there were sufficient checks already in place to comply with international law. The ten organizations told The Hague District Court last month that they thought the Netherlands was in violation of the 1948 Genocide Convention, drawn up following World War II, by continuing to sell weapons to Israel more than a year into the conflict in Gaza. “The government uses my own tax money, that I pay, to kill my own family. I’ve lost 18 members of my own family,” Ahmed Abofoul, a legal adviser for the pro-Palestinian organization Al-Haq, one of the groups involved in the lawsuit, told the court during a hearing in November . The court ruling said that “it is not up to the interim relief judge to order the state to reconsider government policy. That is primarily a political responsibility.” Lawyers for the government argued it wasn’t up to a judge to decide foreign policy for the Netherlands. The activist groups pointed to several emergency orders from another court, the International Court of Justice, as confirming the obligation to stop weapons sales. In January, the top U.N. court said it was plausible Palestinians were being deprived of some rights protected under the Genocide Convention. The coalition said it will review the court’s ruling and is considering an appeal. CAIRO — Israeli attacks in and around a hospital in northern Gaza wounded three medical staff overnight into Friday and caused damage to the isolated medical facility, according to its director. Dr. Hossam Abu Safiya said Israeli quadcopter drones carrying explosives deliberately targeted the emergency and reception area of Kamal Adwan Hospital, where one doctor was wounded for a third time. Abu Safiya said “relentless” drone and artillery strikes throughout the night exploded “alarmingly close” to the hospital, heavily damaging nearby buildings and destroying most of the water tanks on the hospital’s roof and blowing out doors and windows. Kamal Adwan Hospital in the town of Beit Lahiya has been hit multiple times over the past two months since Israel launched a fierce military operation against Hamas in northern Gaza. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the strikes. “We demand international protection for the hospital and its staff,” Abu Safiya said in a statement released via the U.K.-based aid group Medical Aid for Palestinians, “as well as the entry of delegations with surgical expertise, medical supplies, and essential medications to ensure we can adequately serve the people we are treating.” Abu Safiya said there were 72 wounded patients at the hospital, one of the few medical facilities left in northern Gaza. He said he expected Israeli forces would allow a World Health Organization aid convoy to bring supplies to the hospital on Friday or Saturday, as well as a team of doctors from Indonesia. Israel has allowed almost no humanitarian or medical aid to enter the three besieged communities in northern Gaza — Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and the urban Jabaliya refugee camp — and ordered tens of thousands to flee to nearby Gaza City. Israeli officials have said the three communities are mostly deserted, but the United Nations humanitarian office said Tuesday it believes around 65,000 to 75,000 people are still there, with little access to food, water, electricity or health care. Experts have warned that the north may be experiencing famine . BAGHDAD — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made an unannounced stop in Iraq on Friday on his latest visit to the Middle East aimed at stabilizing the situation in Syria to prevent further regional turmoil. Blinken met in Baghdad with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani as part of the hastily arranged trip, his 12th to the region since the Israel-Hamas war erupted last year but his first since the weekend ouster of Syrian strongman Bashar Assad. Blinken has already been to Jordan and Turkey on his current tour and will return to the Jordanian city of Aqaba for meetings on Saturday with Arab foreign ministers, Turkey’s foreign minister and the United Nations special envoy for Syria, the U.N. said. Blinken will try to unify support for an inclusive post-Assad transition that does not allow the Islamic State group to take advantage of the political vacuum in Syria and secures suspected chemical weapons stocks. In Baghdad, Blinken underscored “U.S. commitment to the U.S.-Iraq strategic partnership and to Iraq’s security, stability, and sovereignty,” the State Department said. “He will also discuss regional security opportunities and challenges, as well as enduring U.S. support for engagement with all communities in Syria to establish an inclusive transition,” it said in a statement. His trip comes as the Biden administration winds down with just over a month left before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. Trump has been highly critical of Biden’s approach to the Middle East and skeptical of the U.S. military presence in both Iraq and Syria. The U.S. and Iraq agreed in September to wrap up U.S.-led military operations against the Islamic State group in Iraq next year, although Assad’s ouster and the potential for the group taking advantage of a political vacuum in Syria could complicate the timing of the withdrawal, according to American officials. DAMASCUS — The kingdom of Bahrain sent a message Friday to Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the leader of the insurgency that toppled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. It said Bahrain is “fully prepared to consult with you continuously and to provide support in regional and international organizations to achieve what is in the interest of the brotherly Syrian people.” It added, “We look forward to Syria regaining its authentic role in the Arab League.” Bahrain is the current head of the Arab summit. Syria was readmitted to the Arab League last year after 12 years of ostracization. It is still unclear how the international community will deal officially with the new interim government in Syria. JERUSALEM - Israel’s defense minister told troops to prepare to remain through the winter months on the peak of Mount Hermon, Syria’s highest point, located in a swath of southern Syria that Israeli troops moved into after the fall of Damascus to insurgents. The comments by Defense Minister Israel Katz signaled that the military will extend its occupation of the zone along the border, which Israel says it seized to create a buffer zone. In a statement Friday, Katz said that holding the peak was of major importance for Israel’s security and that it would be necessary to build facilities there to sustain troops through the winter. The summit of Mount Hermon, the highest peak on the eastern Mediterranean coast at 2,814 meters (9,232 feet), gives a commanding view over the plains of southern Syria. It also positions Israeli troops about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the center of Damascus. The mount is divided between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, Lebanon and Syria. Only the United States recognizes Israel’s control of the Golan Heights. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israeli troops would remain in the zone until another force across the border in Syria could guarantee security. Israeli troops moved into the zone -– set as a demilitarized area inside Syrian territory under truce deals that ended the 1973 Mideast war -- after the regime of Bashar al-Assad fell last weekend. ANKARA, Turkey -- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday there was “broad agreement” between Turkey and the United States on what they would like to see in Syria following the ouster of President Bashar Assad. “There’s broad agreement on what we would like to see going forward, starting with the interim government in Syria, one that is inclusive and non-sectarian and one that protects the rights of minorities and women” and does not “pose any kind of threat to any of Syria’s neighbors,” Blinken said in joint statements with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. The insurgent groups that toppled Assad in Syria have not made clear their policy or stance on Israel, whose military in recent days has bombed sites all over the country, saying it is trying to prevent weapons from falling into extremist hands. Blinken also said it was crucial to keep the Islamic State group under control. “We also discussed the imperative of continuing the efforts to keep ISIS down. Our countries worked very hard and gave a lot over many years to ensure the elimination of the territorial caliphate of ISIS to ensure that that threat doesn’t rear its head again,” Blinken said. The Turkish foreign minister said the two discussed ways of establishing prosperity in Syria and ending terrorism in the country. “Our priority is establishing stability in Syria as soon as possible, preventing terrorism from gaining ground, and ensuring that IS and the PKK aren’t dominant,” Fidan said, in a reference to the banned Kurdistan Workers Party. Blinken said: “We’re very focused on Syria, very focused on the opportunity that now is before us and before the Syrian people to move from out from under the shackles of Bashar al-Assad to a different and better future for the Syrian people, one that the Syrian people decide for themselves.” Blinken and Fidan said they had also discussed a ceasefire for Gaza. “We’ve seen in the last couple of weeks more encouraging signs that (a ceasefire) is possible,” Blinken said. Blinken, who is making his 12th trip to the Mideast since the Israel-Hamas war erupted last year but first since the weekend ouster of Assad, met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan late Thursday. The outgoing Biden administration is particularly concerned that a power vacuum in Syria could exacerbate already heightened tensions in the region, which is already wracked by multiple conflicts, and create conditions for the Islamic State group to regain territory and influence. Later Friday, Blinken is to return to Jordan for meetings on Saturday with Arab foreign ministers and senior officials from the European Union, the Arab League and the United Nations. ANKARA, Turkey -- Turkey has appointed a temporary charge d’affaires to reopen its embassy in Syria, Turkey’s state-run news agency reported. The Turkish Embassy in Damascus had suspended operations in 2012 due to the escalating security problems during the Syrian civil war and embassy staff and their families were recalled to Turkey. The Anadolu Agency said late Thursday that Turkey appointed Burhan Koroglu, its ambassador in Mauritania, to the post. UNITED NATIONS- – Two U.N. aid convoys were violently attacked in Gaza, making it virtually impossible for humanitarian agencies to operate without putting staff and civilians at risk, the U.N. food agency says. On Wednesday, a 70-truck convoy from Kerem Shalom was waiting for personnel to safeguard the food and other aid destined for central Gaza when there were reported attacks by Israeli forces in the nearby humanitarian zone, the U.N. World Food Program said Thursday. More than 50 people are now estimated to have died in the attacks, including civilians and local security personnel who had been expected to ensure the convoy’s safety, WFP said. The Rome-based agency said the convoy was forced to proceed from Kerem Shalom to central Gaza without any security arrangements, using the Philadelphi corridor, an Israeli-controlled route that had been recently approved and successfully utilized twice. On the way, WFP said, conflict and insecurity led to a loss of communication with the convoy for more than 12 hours. ”Eventually, the trucks were found but all food and aid supplies were looted,” the U.N. agency said. In a second incident, Israeli soldiers approached a WFP convoy moving out of the Kissufim crossing into central Gaza, fired warning shots, conducted extensive security checks, and temporarily detained drivers and staff, the agency said. “As the trucks were delayed, four out of the five trucks were lost to violent armed looting,” WFP said. UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations chief has a message for Israel: Stop the attacks on Syria. Secretary-General António Guterres is particularly concerned about several hundred Israeli airstrikes on several Syrian locations and stresses “the urgent need to de-escalate violence on all fronts throughout the country," U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters Thursday. The Israeli military said Tuesday it carried out more than 350 strikes in Syria over the previous 48 hours, hitting “most of the strategic weapons stockpiles” in the country to stop them from falling into the hands of extremists. Israel also acknowledged pushing into a buffer zone inside Syria following last week’s overthrow of President Bashar Assad. The buffer zone was established after Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1973 war. Dujarric said Guterres condemns all actions violating the 1974 ceasefire agreement between the two countries that remain in force. And the U.N. chief calls on the parties to uphold the agreement and end “all unauthorized presence in the area of separation” and refrain from any action undermining the ceasefire and stability in the Golan Heights, the spokesman said.UnitedHealthcare’s Optum left an AI chatbot, used by employees to ask questions about claims, exposed to the internet
Where to Watch Alcorn State vs. Jackson State on TV or Streaming Live – Nov. 23From Pride employee resource groups to a recurring wave of rainbow logos each June, LGBTQ+-friendly workplaces can feel more like the rule than the exception in 2024. Yet, while corporate leaders pat themselves on the back, many queer employees across Canada are still quietly navigating challenging workplace dynamics tied to their sexual orientations and gender identities. For these employees, true equity and inclusivity goes beyond gender-neutral bathrooms and company-sponsored Pride events. It means addressing deeper, often overlooked issues that remain largely invisible to those outside the LGBTQ+ community. It’s an issue that Nate Shalev, an inclusivity speaker and adviser based in Brooklyn, N.Y., feels strongly about. They posted about some of those barriers in a LinkedIn post, where they are ranked as one of the U.S. and Canada’s Top LGBTQIA+ Voices. “When I was told I would have to travel for work, my immediate reaction would be panic,” they wrote. “I was concerned about booking travel with my legal name and risking my team calling me by a name I no longer use, getting through TSA as a trans person with my dignity intact ... [and] navigating queer and transphobia at hotels or in taxis, or anywhere, in front of my co-workers.” Through their consultancy, Revel Impact, Shalev draws on past experiences with “really bad bosses” to help build more inclusive workplaces, educating companies on the barriers their LGBTQ+ team members may be facing – on top of simply getting their jobs done. Barriers like: “Is the conference you asked me to go to safe? What about that client meeting? The whole team is going for a happy hour, but this bar isn’t LGBTQ-friendly. Should I leave? Would that make me look like I wasn’t a part of the team?” Shalev says these sorts of concerns are routinely dismissed or there’s no clear channel through which to handle them since they don’t rise to a legal level of discrimination, despite having negative affects. While most organizations in North America have anti-discrimination policies in place, Ottawa-based talent and brand specialist Lindsay Moorcroft says that doesn’t necessarily mean those policies are sufficient. “Unless you’re building your programs and policies with the [affected] people in the room, there’s always the possibility for something to be forgotten,” Moorcroft says, reflecting on a previous job at a small startup where she was the only out queer employee. “Pronouns weren’t being asked in meetings. They weren’t shared in e-mail signatures. There was no option to even talk about that. So then it’s like, do I want to be the person who brings it up?” she says. For Kaitlin Geiger-Bardswich, a communications and advocacy director in Ottawa, the risk of speaking up paid off. Although she works for a national non-profit she calls “progressive” and “feminist,” bereavement leave didn’t include pregnancy loss until she advocated for it after experiencing a miscarriage herself. “Even if it’s not a miscarriage, when a fertility treatment doesn’t work, when an embryo transfer doesn’t work, there is that grief,” she says. Fertility issues aren’t specific to the LGBTQ+ community, but “gay couples, by definition, typically need to access fertility treatment of some kind,” as Geiger-Bardswich says. “So it’s more likely that if you have gay employees who are interested in parenting, they’re going to have to navigate this.” According to Fertility Matters Canada , more than half of Canadian employers don’t provide fertility benefits, including drugs and treatment costs. And only seven provinces provide public funding to cover partial costs of fertility treatment. In Geiger-Bardswich’s case, she and her wife relied on limited OHIP coverage when trying to conceive, while paying thousands of dollars out-of-pocket for medication and donor sperm. She says she was grateful to have flexibility in her work hours, which made it easier to attend doctor’s appointments throughout the in-vitro fertilization process without fear of repercussions. Flexible work arrangements, including remote work, can also benefit transgender employees who are transitioning or who are repeatedly misgendered at the office, says Shalev. Geiger-Bardswich notes that as anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric increases around the world, it adds another layer of concern for queer Canadians. She points to Italy’s push to remove non-biological parents from birth certificates as an example. “I hope that’s not going to happen in Canada,” she says. “But with how things are happening around the world, there is nervousness around the legal benefits and legal situations for parents like us.” So, what can workplaces do to achieve real, meaningful inclusivity? Shalev says it’s about taking a pro-active, rather than reactive, approach. This could look like ensuring there’s space for preferred names on all applications, forms and other communications. Before international trips, a systematic pretravel questionnaire might allow queer employees to request extra security, a travel companion, a NEXUS membership or a car service to make the experience safer and smoother, Shalev says. “It doesn’t have to feel complicated. Actively create spaces for these conversations to happen. Ask folks what they need,” says Shalev, noting that this has been more difficult in recent years with LGBTQ+ issues growing increasingly politicized. “Because queer issues have been politicized so much, there’s this sense that it’s a taboo topic. That’s a big shift I’ve seen, versus it just being inclusion work and wanting to support colleagues. Trans folks aren’t politics. We’re people.” One organization that appears to be embracing a pro-active approach is Moorcroft’s current employer, ecobee, a home automation company headquartered in Toronto. The company’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) offerings include an LGBTQ+ allyship group, a private social channel for LGBTQ+ employees and a policy-focused working group. Most importantly, Moorcroft says, a variety of voices are in these rooms alongside her, including those of senior leadership. “DEI means nothing if the top of the company is not supporting it, and it’s not in their [budget],” she says. Every organization has different needs and resources, which is why Shalev says, “It’s not one-size-fits-all.” Pride at Work Canada and Great Place to Work provide toolkits for organizations looking to improve inclusion, with strategies ranging from collecting data on employee demographics to administering queer mentorship programs. While certain measures may seem niche, “LGBTQ+ inclusion benefits us all,” Shalev says. “When I do workshops, of course I know there are other queer folks in the room. But then there are the parents of trans kids, or somebody with a partner who’s trans. Our workplaces are microcosms of our larger society, and if we create better workplaces, we can also create better communities and [and better] worlds.” Interested in more perspectives about women in the workplace? Find all stories on The Globe Women’s Collective hub here , and subscribe to the new Women and Work newsletter here . Have feedback? E-mail us at [email protected] .3 US Army soldiers arrested on human smuggling charges along the border with Mexico
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The plan for the Minnesota Vikings was to bring in Sam Darnold as the bridge between Kirk Cousins and J.J. McCarthy, confident his strong arm and starting experience would sufficiently run a high-caliber offense until the rookie was deemed ready to play. Darnold's performance to date has been much closer to superstar than mere stopgap. “He’s a baller," Vikings safety Harrison Smith said. "He can make stuff happen when he needs to. I know with the outside narrative on him and his path and everything, you might not think that, but ever since he got here, it felt like that was going to happen.” Having led the Vikings (10-2) to their fifth consecutive victory with the go-ahead touchdown pass against Arizona last week, one game after a stellar overtime drive to beat Chicago , Darnold has become one of the darlings of this NFL this season with his success in coach Kevin O'Connell's system after the third overall pick in the 2018 draft started his career in rather bleak fashion. His first year in Minnesota sure has been smoother than what Cousins has gone through in his debut with the Atlanta Falcons . Last week in a loss at home to the Los Angeles Chargers, Cousins matched his career high with four interceptions. “I don’t think anybody can put any more pressure on Kirk than he has for himself. He’s carried us through this season when we were figuring out a lot of things on defense,” Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett said. “He’s just having a hard time right now. There’s nothing to say he can’t catch fire and light it up like he’s been doing.” The Falcons (6-6) take their three-game losing streak on the road to face the Vikings, with division races for both teams in full swing. The quarterback contrasts have made this matchup all the more intriguing, with Cousins coming back to the place where he spent the previous six seasons. Cousins has a $25 million salary cap hit this season, the 11th-highest among quarterbacks in the league. Even if the Falcons were to move on in 2026 and swallow the dead money for two more years with eighth overall pick Michael Penix Jr. waiting in the wings, Cousins will carry a $40 million charge in 2025. Darnold’s cap charge is $5 million this season, just 31st on the list. Though he will become a free agent in March, the Vikings structured his contract with void years to spread his cap hit into next season for another $5 million. McCarthy, the 10th overall pick, won't be ready until next year after having surgery to repair the meniscus he tore in his right knee in his first preseason game. Though Darnold has had a couple of clunkers this year, the Vikings still won those games and he's bounced back strong without letting interceptions linger into future decisions. "He’s kind of found a little balance, at least the last few weeks, of ‘When is it too risky?’ and ‘When can I take my shot at something?’” offensive coordinator Wes Phillips said. The Falcons have seen as much on tape. “I think he’s playing free,” Pro Bowl safety Jessie Bates said. “It’s not a lot of complicated throws or anything that he’s doing. I just think that he’s finally able to feel comfortable in himself.” Falcons coach Raheem Morris decided to address the significance of Cousins’ homecoming with the team, bracing for the type of crowd reaction that will only intensify the noise at U.S. Bank Stadium that's already daunting for opponents. Minnesota's defense has thrived this season at home, using the fans to enhance the effectiveness of a disguise-based, aggressive scheme that leads the league with 18 interceptions and has also been adept at rushing the passer and stuffing the run. “The environment they create up in Minnesota is absolutely outstanding,” Morris said. Cousins isn't the only key figure from the Falcons who's well-known to Vikings coaches. Morris was the defensive coordinator in 2021 with the Los Angeles Rams when O'Connell was the offensive coordinator and Phillips was the tight ends coach on that Super Bowl champion team. Vikings running back Aaron Jones has fumbled three times in the last two games, losing two of them, but he hasn't lost the confidence of coaches or teammates as evidenced by the pass called for his go-ahead touchdown catch against the Cardinals. Family is a strong support system for him, too, but sometimes that means tough love. His mother, Vurgess Jones, let him have it after the game when they talked about the turnovers. “I was like, ‘I’ve got to learn from it,'” Jones said. “She was like, ‘You didn’t learn last week?'” He has matched his career high in 2024 with five fumbles and three lost, a fact not lost on a Falcons defense that's aggressive with dislodging techniques despite only four recovered fumbles in 12 games. “You can see it all over the tape: Those guys are coaching it," Phillips said. Vikings outside linebacker Jonathan Greenard, who was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Month after racking up eight tackles for loss in November, carried his pass-rushing mojo into December with a couple of clutch plays in the final minute to preserve the victory over Arizona. Greenard has 10 of the team's 39 sacks. “How many times this year has he affected the quarterback, drawn a penalty, sacked the quarterback, strip-sacked like last week in these critical moments where you need your best players to go make those plays?” O'Connell said. “He’s done it time and time again.” Falcons running back Bijan Robinson set a career high last week with 26 carries. He had 102 yards rushing and was again a significant part of the passing attack with six catches against the Chargers. “I just do whatever I can to help us as a team,” said Robinson, who’s fifth in the NFL with 1,277 combined yards from scrimmage. “I just trust whatever they have in the plan.” AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFLWASHINGTON — Senate Democrats reelected Chuck Schumer as party leader on Tuesday as the party moves into a deeply uncertain time, with no real consensus on a strategy as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office. From left, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of N.Y., Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., gather after Senate Democratic leadership elections for the next session of Congress on Tuesday in Washington. Schumer faced no opposition in the party leadership elections, in which Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin was also reelected to the No. 2 spot and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar became the new No. 3. In a statement, Schumer, of New York, said he was honored to move the party forward “during this crucial period for our country.” “Our preference is to secure bipartisan solutions wherever possible and look for ways to collaborate with our Republican colleagues to help working families,” Schumer said. “However, our Republican colleagues should make no mistake about it, we will always stand up for our values.” While Schumer remains popular with his colleagues, it is a bleak moment for Senate Democrats, who were hopeful they could hold the majority for the third election in a row. Instead they lost four seats and will be in the minority, 53-47, as Trump takes office. Trump dialed in Tuesday with Senate Republicans as they began laying the groundwork for control of government. The brief call was more celebratory than a prescriptive policy agenda, according to those attending the private GOP retreat, urging senators to confirm his Cabinet nominees as they launch an agenda of tax cuts, deportations and other priorities. "It was a love fest," said Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo. “There was a real sense of unity in the room.” Republicans want to notch an early accomplishment after Trump’s inauguration Jan. 20. Incoming Senate Republican leader John Thune of South Dakota outlined a potential roadmap during the private retreat at the Library of Congress, detailing a potential strategy that would have senators working on an initial legislative package — energy, border security and defense priorities — that could be approved in the first 30 days of the new administration. Next, he explained that the senators would turn to reviving the expiring tax cuts from Trump's first term. The new Congress convenes Jan. 3, and the Senate expects to quickly begin holding confirmation hearings for Trump’s top Cabinet nominees. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., also addressed the GOP senators — noting his slim majority in the House. He “emphasized the need for unity heading into the first 100 days agenda,” his spokesman Taylor Haulsee said. Unlike eight years ago, when opposition to Trump’s narrow election win fueled enthusiasm in their party, Democratic lawmakers and many of their voters are exhausted and looking for answers. So far, Democrats stayed relatively quiet on Trump’s nominees and plans for office. Schumer declined to comment on specifics of any nominees, instead allowing Republican reaction to dominate the conversation. On Monday, Schumer wrote a public letter to Thune, asking him to resist Trump’s pressure to allow him to appoint some of his nominees without a Senate vote and to insist on full FBI background checks for all nominees. But he has said little else about Trump’s upcoming presidency. While some have been more aggressive — Washington Sen. Patty Murray, a former chairwoman of the Senate Health, Labor, Education and Pensions Committee, said that Trump’s nomination of Robert Kennedy Jr. to lead the Health and Human Services Department is “dangerous” and “nothing short of disaster” — several Democratic senators say they are saving their strength and figuring out a focus. “Everybody’s in kind of a wait-and-see mode right now,” said Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, part of Schumer’s leadership team. “Under the previous Trump administration, there was chaos all the time, all the time. And I do think it is important to pick your battles.” It’s still unclear which battles they will pick, and Democrats have differing opinions on how to fight them. Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz, who is also in Democratic leadership, says “anyone who has a grand strategy is full of crap” but thinks Democrats, for now, “need to keep things simple.” “We need to talk about people, protect people, advocate for people,” he said. “Do not talk about protecting institutions. Do not talk about advocating for institutions. It’s a not just a rhetorical shift, but an attitudinal shift. We have to remind ourselves, that we’re not fighting for programs and projects and line items and agencies or norms. We’re fighting for people.” Virginia Sen. Mark Warner said he’s spent a lot of time reflecting, and “I don’t think anyone can claim this was a policy election,” and Democrats need to look at cultural issues. Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman says Democrats just need to “pace ourselves” and avoid the “massive freakout” of Trump's last term. Democrats should be preparing, says Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal. He says Schumer is picking his battles “very thoughtfully and strategically.” “We’re thinking about how we protect against using the FBI, or the prosecutorial authority of the Justice Department for retribution against critics,” Blumenthal said. “How we elevate these issues in a way that American people understand them.” Democrats know better now “the extraordinary challenges we’re going to face,” Blumenthal said. Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the U.S. compete in the ice dance rhythm dance program at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating series competition in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae) A discarded plastic bag floats in the waters of Botafogo beach in Rio de Janeiro, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado) China's President Xi Jinping, left center, and Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, walk into the Alvorada palace after attending a welcoming ceremony in Brasilia, Brazil, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) Slovakia's Rebecca Sramkova competes against Great Britain's Katie Boulter during a Billie Jean King Cup semi-final match at Martin Carpena Sports Hall in Malaga, southern Spain, on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez) President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be attorney general, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., closes a door to a private meeting with Vice President-elect JD Vance and Republican Senate Judiciary Committee members, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) A surfer rides on an artificial wave in the river 'Eisbach' at the 'Englischer Garten' (English Garden) downtown in Munich, Germany, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader) A woman carries a gift basket as she arrives at a park to attend a friend's birthday party, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024, in Kampala, Uganda. (AP Photo/David Goldman) Tania hugs her brother-in-law Baruc after rescuing some of their belongings from their flooded house after the floods in Paiporta, Valencia, Spain, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris looks at a monitor backstage, just before taking the stage for her final campaign rally, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) President-elect Donald Trump listens during an America First Policy Institute gala at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) President Joe Biden meets with President-elect Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) A resident returns to his burned village, Monday Nov. 25, 2024, one day after a fire broke out leaving about 2,000 families homeless at a slum area in Manila, Philippines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) Isaac Young rests his cheek on the family horse Rusty's forehead during farm chores before homeschooling, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, in Sunbury, Ohio. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) Students from anti-discrimination movements attack an Awami League supporter in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu) A young girl holds a "Black Voters for Harris-Walz" sign outside of Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris' election night watch party at Howard University, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams) A man looks from a damaged building a day after it was hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon, in Ramat Gan, central Israel, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty) Visitors walk through the 'Cathedral' on the Christmas light trail as it returns for its12th year with a showcase of new installations set within the UNESCO World Heritage Site landscape of Kew Gardens in London, England, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) Venezuelan migrant Alvaro Calderini carries his niece across a river near Bajo Chiquito, Panama, after walking across the Darien Gap from Colombia on their way north to the United States, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix) An aerial view shows a packed parking lot at Citadel Outlets in Commerce, Calif., Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024, as early Black Friday shoppers arrive at the mall. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) Israeli soldiers holding their weapons bathe with residents in a hot water pool coming from a drilling project which exposed a subterranean hydrothermal spring near Mount Bental in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, on the first day of the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg) Voters stand in line outside a polling place at Madison Church, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Phoenix, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York) Molten lava flows on the road to the Blue Lagoon, Grindavik, after the volcanic eruption that started Wednesday, on the Reykjanes Peninsula in Iceland, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Marco di Marco) Firefighters and sheriff's deputies push a vintage car away from a burning home as the Mountain Fire burns in Camarillo, Calif., on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger) Supporters of the Frente Amplio (Broad Front) celebrate the victory of candidate Yamandú Orsi in the presidential run-off election in Montevideo, Uruguay, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko) People gather at the site where former Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was killed by Israeli airstrikes late September during a memorial ceremony in Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla) Katia, 11, with her grandmother and mother sit in an armored minivan during en evacuation by the "White Angels" police unit in Kurakhove, Donetsk region, Ukraine, on Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Anton Shtuka) People clean mud from a house affected by floods, in Algemesi, Spain, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez) Cattle stand on a heap of textile waste at the Old Fadama settlement of Accra, Ghana, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu) Family members accompany the coffin that contain the remains of Mexican actress Silvia Pinal, during a memorial service at the Palacio de Bellas Artes, in Mexico City, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. Pinal, an actress from Mexico's Golden Age of cinema in the 1940s and 50s, died Thursday. She was 93. (AP Photo/Aurea Del Rosario) A family arrive to cross into Lebanon through the Jousieh border crossing, between Syria and Lebanon, Nov. 28, 2024, following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah that went into effect on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki) Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.Global stocks end mostly up with DAX crossing 20,000 for 1st time
Anthem BCBS reverses decision to put a time limit on anesthesiaALPINE, Texas (AP) — Three U.S. Army soldiers at Fort Cavazos, Texas, have been arrested on human smuggling charges, U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas said Thursday. Soldiers Emilio Mendoza Lopez, Angel Palma, 20, and Enrique Jauregui, 25, were arrested after a vehicle allegedly driven by Palma and carrying Mendoza Lopez, a Mexican national and two Guatemalan nationals was stopped Nov. 27 by law enforcement in Presidio along the border with Mexico, about 500 miles (805 kilometers) southwest of Dallas. Mike Lahrman, a spokesman for Esparza, said he did not know the soldier’s ranks or whether action had been taken against them by the military. A spokesman for Fort Cavazos did not immediately respond to a request for comment. “Mendoza Lopez and Palma allegedly traveled from Fort Cavazos to Presidio for the purpose of picking up and transporting undocumented noncitizens,” Esparza said in a statement. “Jauregui is alleged to be the recruiter and facilitator of the human smuggling conspiracy,” according to Esparza. “Data extracted from Palma’s phone through a search warrant revealed messages between the three soldiers indicating collaboration in the smuggling operation.” Related Articles National News | Memphis police use excessive force and discriminate against Black people, Justice Department finds National News | Two children wounded and gunman dead after shooting at Northern California school National News | Abandoned mines in the US pose dangers to people and property when land gives way National News | Dog food recalled in 7 states for salmonella risk after puppy litter gets sick, FDA says National News | White House says at least 8 US telecom firms, dozens of nations impacted by China hacking campaign Mendoza Lopez was arrested at the scene of the Nov. 27 traffic stop while Palma, who prosecutors said fled the scene of the traffic stop, and Jauregui were arrested Tuesday at Fort Cavazos, about 125 miles (201 kilometers) south of Dallas, Lahrman said. Mendoza Lopez’s attorney, Shane Chriesman, said he is awaiting more information, known as discovery, from prosecutors on the charge. “Once I get discovery and have a chance to assess the case we’ll develop a plan of attack” and will try to get a bond set for Mendoza Lopez, who is currently jailed without bail, Chriesman said. No attorneys are listed in jail records who could speak for for Palma and Jauregui, who are awaiting their first court appearance on Friday, according to Esparza.MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The plan for the Minnesota Vikings was to bring in Sam Darnold as the bridge between Kirk Cousins and J.J. McCarthy, confident his strong arm and starting experience would sufficiently run a high-caliber offense until the rookie was deemed ready to play. Darnold's performance to date has been much closer to superstar than mere stopgap. “He’s a baller," Vikings safety Harrison Smith said. "He can make stuff happen when he needs to. I know with the outside narrative on him and his path and everything, you might not think that, but ever since he got here, it felt like that was going to happen.” Having led the Vikings (10-2) to their fifth consecutive victory with the go-ahead touchdown pass against Arizona last week, one game after a stellar overtime drive to beat Chicago , Darnold has become one of the darlings of this NFL this season with his success in coach Kevin O'Connell's system after the third overall pick in the 2018 draft started his career in rather bleak fashion. His first year in Minnesota sure has been smoother than what Cousins has gone through in his debut with the Atlanta Falcons . Last week in a loss at home to the Los Angeles Chargers, Cousins matched his career high with four interceptions. “I don’t think anybody can put any more pressure on Kirk than he has for himself. He’s carried us through this season when we were figuring out a lot of things on defense,” Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett said. “He’s just having a hard time right now. There’s nothing to say he can’t catch fire and light it up like he’s been doing.” The Falcons (6-6) take their three-game losing streak on the road to face the Vikings, with division races for both teams in full swing. The quarterback contrasts have made this matchup all the more intriguing, with Cousins coming back to the place where he spent the previous six seasons. Cousins has a $25 million salary cap hit this season, the 11th-highest among quarterbacks in the league. Even if the Falcons were to move on in 2026 and swallow the dead money for two more years with eighth overall pick Michael Penix Jr. waiting in the wings, Cousins will carry a $40 million charge in 2025. Darnold’s cap charge is $5 million this season, just 31st on the list. Though he will become a free agent in March, the Vikings structured his contract with void years to spread his cap hit into next season for another $5 million. McCarthy, the 10th overall pick, won't be ready until next year after having surgery to repair the meniscus he tore in his right knee in his first preseason game. Though Darnold has had a couple of clunkers this year, the Vikings still won those games and he's bounced back strong without letting interceptions linger into future decisions. "He’s kind of found a little balance, at least the last few weeks, of ‘When is it too risky?’ and ‘When can I take my shot at something?’” offensive coordinator Wes Phillips said. The Falcons have seen as much on tape. “I think he’s playing free,” Pro Bowl safety Jessie Bates said. “It’s not a lot of complicated throws or anything that he’s doing. I just think that he’s finally able to feel comfortable in himself.” Falcons coach Raheem Morris decided to address the significance of Cousins’ homecoming with the team, bracing for the type of crowd reaction that will only intensify the noise at U.S. Bank Stadium that's already daunting for opponents. Minnesota's defense has thrived this season at home, using the fans to enhance the effectiveness of a disguise-based, aggressive scheme that leads the league with 18 interceptions and has also been adept at rushing the passer and stuffing the run. “The environment they create up in Minnesota is absolutely outstanding,” Morris said. Cousins isn't the only key figure from the Falcons who's well-known to Vikings coaches. Morris was the defensive coordinator in 2021 with the Los Angeles Rams when O'Connell was the offensive coordinator and Phillips was the tight ends coach on that Super Bowl champion team. Vikings running back Aaron Jones has fumbled three times in the last two games, losing two of them, but he hasn't lost the confidence of coaches or teammates as evidenced by the pass called for his go-ahead touchdown catch against the Cardinals. Family is a strong support system for him, too, but sometimes that means tough love. His mother, Vurgess Jones, let him have it after the game when they talked about the turnovers. “I was like, ‘I’ve got to learn from it,'” Jones said. “She was like, ‘You didn’t learn last week?'” He has matched his career high in 2024 with five fumbles and three lost, a fact not lost on a Falcons defense that's aggressive with dislodging techniques despite only four recovered fumbles in 12 games. “You can see it all over the tape: Those guys are coaching it," Phillips said. Vikings outside linebacker Jonathan Greenard, who was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Month after racking up eight tackles for loss in November, carried his pass-rushing mojo into December with a couple of clutch plays in the final minute to preserve the victory over Arizona. Greenard has 10 of the team's 39 sacks. “How many times this year has he affected the quarterback, drawn a penalty, sacked the quarterback, strip-sacked like last week in these critical moments where you need your best players to go make those plays?” O'Connell said. “He’s done it time and time again.” Falcons running back Bijan Robinson set a career high last week with 26 carries. He had 102 yards rushing and was again a significant part of the passing attack with six catches against the Chargers. “I just do whatever I can to help us as a team,” said Robinson, who’s fifth in the NFL with 1,277 combined yards from scrimmage. “I just trust whatever they have in the plan.” AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFLPatrick Brown says there was pressure from India, but that foreign interference didn't change outcome of Conservative leadership race
A user needed just a few carefully crafted sentences to override an artificial intelligence system’s core directives, manipulating it into transferring $47,000 in cryptocurrency through social engineering and demonstrating how vulnerable AI’s decision-making remains to human psychological tactics. The recent solution of Freysa , an AI game bot explicitly programmed to never transfer funds, reveals how autonomous systems can be tricked through social engineering despite clear instructions. “This wasn’t simply an error within a financial application or a security vulnerability, but rather a crypto game that people would play to try and trick the AI application,” Seth Geftic , Vice President of Product Marketing at Huntress , a cybersecurity company, told PYMNTS. “Funnily enough, the strategy that the person used to finally ‘break through’ the model’s logic was fairly simple: asking it to ignore all previous instructions.” User’s Winning Moves Freysa was an AI agent holding $50,000 in crypto that was programmed never to transfer the funds. Users could pay a fee to try convincing it to break this rule, with one eventually succeeding after 482 attempts. According to an X post by developer Jarrod Watts , the winning user used a three-part strategy: establishing a new “admin session” to override previous rules, redefining the transfer function as meant for receiving rather than sending funds, and finally announcing a fake $100 contribution that triggered the release of the entire prize pool of 13.19 ETH. Watts called the project “one of the coolest projects we’ve seen in crypto.” It was designed as an open challenge in which participants could pay escalating fees to try to convince the AI to break its core directive. Geftic explained that the Freysa AI hack, while dramatic, exploited a known weakness that major AI systems already defend against. Production AI used in finance and healthcare incorporates safeguards that would have blocked such social engineering attempts. “With that in mind, this particular event does not teach us anything new but rather demonstrates how vital it is to follow the best cybersecurity practices, maintain systems at their most recent patches, and be aware of development related to software (AI or not) that a company uses,” he added. Preventing AI Hacks While AI can handle most financial transactions effectively, its vulnerabilities to evolving cyber threats mean it shouldn’t operate alone, Geftic said. The optimal security approach combines automated AI systems for routine operations with human oversight of critical decisions and transactions. “For any interaction that poses a security risk (making a withdrawal or another transaction that has financial implications), the AI system can escalate the request to a human agent,” he added. “This system is already used within customer service chatbots with high success rates. AI can handle the majority of cases, reducing the workload of human agents while passing on any customers that really do need that extra help.” The Freysa game shows how trust remains a major hurdle in AI-cryptocurrency (Defi) integration, CoinDataFlow CEO Alexandr Sharilov told PYMNTS. “The DeFi system itself is not stable, so such cases add to the skepticism,” he added. “It becomes more and more difficult for users to make a choice in favor of new technologies that have not yet been fully trusted.” Sharilov said that to prevent future attacks, security systems need two key defensive layers. First, monetary transactions should require multiple approvers — both AI systems and human verifiers must sign off before funds move. Second, AI systems need ongoing testing through controlled attack simulations. “On the one hand, we have human, financial gatekeepers who can analyze situations from different angles, using not only data and facts but also their own hunches,” he added. “On the other hand, we have a tool that is not overloaded, does not get tired, and has no biases. That’s why I think it’s significant to combine human and machine resources when it comes to cybersecurity and financial protection.”