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Jefferson keeps seeing double as Vikings aim to stay focused on overall offensive productionSyria's newly appointed foreign minister, Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, told Iran on Tuesday not to spread chaos in Syria but to respect the Syrian people's will and the country's sovereignty. In a post on X, Shibani said: "Iran must respect the will of the Syrian people and the country's sovereignty and security. We warn them from spreading chaos in Syria and we hold them accountable for the repercussions of the latest remarks." He did not specify the remarks he was referring to. In a televised speech on Sunday, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on Syrian youth to "stand with firm determination against those who have orchestrated and brought about this insecurity". "We predict that a strong and honorable group will also emerge in Syria because today Syrian youth have nothing to lose. Their schools, universities, homes, and streets are unsafe," Khameini said. He added: "Therefore, they must stand firmly with determination against the planners and executors of insecurity and prevail over them." Syrian rebels ousted President Bashar al-Assad on Dec. 8 after a 13-year civil war. Iran spent billions of dollars propping up Assad during the war and deployed its Revolutionary Guards to Syria to keep its ally in power. Assad's overthrow is widely seen as a major blow to the Iran-led "Axis of Resistance" political and military alliance that opposes Israeli and U.S. influence in the Middle East. (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.) Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the worldSalt Typhoon forces FCC's hand on making telcos secure their networks

Syria latest: Syrians celebrate in the streets as Russian media says Assad has arrived in Moscow

Marvel Rivals is available for free on PC, Xbox Series X/S, and PlayStation 5 and has created speculation that it has Overwatch players switching sides. Overwatch is a rather obvious source of inspiration for the hero shooter, but some would argue that developer NetEase does it better. Because of this, NetEase's attempt at the genre feels familiar to those who have played Blizzard's game for a long time. Don't be fooled though as there is a minor learning curve. Even if you've played comparable games for hundreds of hours, there are a few details that are unique and important to remember.If this is your first time playing the game, here are some pointers for beginners. Overwatch 2 'Classic Mode' reverts shooter to 2016 6vs6 version—essentially OW1 Everything to know about Fortnite Sprites locations benefits and types Marvel Rivals had a large cast when it first came out. Finding the heroes you click with can be daunting because there are 33 characters right away. Because rival battles move so quickly, it might be difficult to understand what each character is doing. Spending some time in the practice range beforehand is your best chance of discovering a hero you like. Here, you can train on several robot dummies and get complete access to the entire roster. Before you go into online matches, a few minutes spent here will give you a head start. Understanding each hero's moveset is an important part of getting to know them, but some of them feature passive skills that you'll never be able to use. Each character's Hero Profile, which includes a clear summary of all of their active and passive skills, is accessible from the hero pick screen. If you're trying someone new, read them before you really get into a quarrel. It will make the difference between winging it and knowing some strategies for handling a conflict. Also, remember to try out different characters as you won' know when another player will beat you to it. Since Marvel Rivals is a free-to-play game, microtransactions account for the majority of its revenue. Although none of the characters are protected by a paywall, payment is required to purchase cosmetics such highlight intros, emotes, and costumes. The two main currencies have nearly equal values: the blue one, known as a Unit, is obtained by playing and finishing tasks, while the gold one, known as Lattice, is purchased with actual money. One US dollar is worth 100 lattice, so that lattice can be converted 1:1 into units. Lattice can only be bought in bundles, so you may have to overspend to get a better deal. In addition, Chrono Tokens are utilized exclusively to access battle pass rewards. Marvel Rivals' Luxury Battle Passes enables you to access their contents whenever you want, provided that you buy them during the season. Unlike Fortnite and other live service games, there will be no penalty for failing to finish the season Battle Pass. Costumes and various cosmetics are included with the 490 Lattice pass. Therefore, you may get the battle pass and return to Marvel Rivals whenever you want if you intend to play the game for a long time and want to unlock everything in it but may need to take occasional breaks. NetEase is giving away a free Iron Man skin before March 5, 2025. Dress up as Tony Stark in the black-and-gold Armor Model 42 by using the in-game code nwarh4k3xqy. Team-Up capabilities are one of Marvel Rivals' key differentiators. These provide additional skills to specific hero combinations, which can help you win a battle. While some, like Rocket and Jeff riding on Groot's back and losing their independent movement in return for greater defense, may radically alter your style of play, others, like Adam Warlock granting Mantis and Star-Lord a second life, are just a bonus in your back pocket. Click here to follow the Mirror US on Google News to stay up to date with all the latest news, sports and entertainment stories When they naturally arise, these are fantastic, and it's a smart strategy to base your squad composition on them. They are not, however, the ultimate strategy in Marvel Rivals. Characters that aren't designed to complement one another can yet win a lot of bouts. DAILY NEWSLETTER: Sign up here to get the latest news and updates from the Mirror US straight to your inbox with our FREE newsletter. Another controversial problem in hero shooters is role spread; some fans like the freedom to build teams that don't have to follow the same 2-2-2 pattern. Although there isn't yet a role queue in Marvel Rivals that requires the team to select two of each of the Vanguard, Duelist, and Strategist roles, it's a good idea to have at least one of each when choosing a player. Simply put, if you don't have a healer for your teammates, you won't win battles against a good opposing team.

-- Shares Facebook Twitter Reddit Email “Why do you draw?” A seemingly innocuous question that in truth carries immense weight. It’s the kind of question that you can brush off with a casual wave of the hand, or it can leave you speechless, unable to even find the words. Art isn’t numbers on a spreadsheet. It’s life itself. In “Look Back,” the film based on Tatsuki Fujimoto’s one-shot manga, two teenage girls bond over their love of creating manga. Fujino handles the characters and story, while Kyomoto takes care of the background art. They make a powerful team. When Kyomoto asks Fujino why she draws, we don’t get an explanation. We don’t need it. We’ve seen it. Every moment the pair shares with each other is why. Seasons change outside Fujino’s window as she and Kyomoto work on their first manga together. The duo quietly scribbles away, creating in the presence of one another, as pages of manuscript pile up. We see that life and art are intimately linked. That creation is born out of the wonder, the mystery and of course, the tragedy of life. This is not a review of “Look Back.” Enough beautiful words have already been said about the film, and it is most certainly one that any fan of anime, manga, cinema or art in general should see. But it is that simple-but-not question, “Why do you draw?” asked by Kyomoto to Fujino, that echoed in my head, clanging and clattering in the space between my ears in the days and weeks after I saw “Look Back.” I think it struck a chord because it increasingly feels like the creative process, and deeper and more troubling than that, humanity itself, is under attack . Related The 12 biggest moments in animation in 2023 There is a contingent of craven capitalists who have slowly turned the entertainment industry into just another financial market. Moving into senior positions at major studios in film, television and video games, these ghouls seek only to maximize profit. The art at the center of these industries is, to many of these bigwigs, a means to an end. That end being stock prices and shareholder satisfaction. It’s why we got “ Inside Out 2” and “ Moana 2” this year. Unnecessary sequels that a bunch of suits knew would rake in the dough. Although talented people worked on both, when art is kept within the confines of a giant, soulless corporation, art (and the people creating it) is held captive by the profit motive. Money becomes the mantra. When someone’s life’s work, their passion, their expression of creativity, is diminished to merely being seen as content, as numbers on an earnings report, it is an attack on art. This year, “Coyote vs. Acme” was shelved and seems destined to become lost media , buried before even being given a chance for audiences to see it. The hard work of hundreds of people, a mere tax write-off under the mighty pen of Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav . One of my favorite shows from last year , “Scavengers Reign,” was unable to avoid the axe. Despite winning an Emmy (for background design) and being nominated for outstanding animated program, the show didn’t bring in the viewer hours so it was unceremoniously thrown on the heap. Critical acclaim or simply letting art exist in the world and be received by the people (with no concern for the size of the audience) aren’t things that Zaslav and his ilk consider. Imagine if “Mad Men” or "The Sopranos" was cut after its first season because target demos, algorithm data and KPIs just didn’t support renewal. In 2024, the only concern is that the numbers look good, so that CEOs can line their pockets with millions in compensation. And if recent reaction to UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s murder is anything to go by, the people are getting a little fed up with the unfettered greed of the C-suite. Art isn’t numbers on a spreadsheet. It’s life itself. We need your help to stay independent Subscribe today to support Salon's progressive journalism “Look Back” implores the viewer to see how art and life are intertwined. Every adventure that Fujino and Kyomoto go on becomes the inspiration for another manga. They visit the ocean, and that leads to the duo writing “The Sea Cities.” Looking for bugs in summer turns into “The Cicada Humans.” A trip to the aquarium yields “The Man Who Ate the Crab.” The pair experiences life, and their art echoes those experiences. Reverberating through the creative process, those echoes twist and distort just enough to give the art they produce a fantastical fiction, but at its core, their art is quite literally their lives. The works of Dickens capture Victorian London so well because he lived it; he worked in the warehouses, and his worldview was shaped by these formative experiences. Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto explored forests and hunted for bugs as a child, and wanted to recreate that feeling in a video game, eventually leading to the creation of “The Legend of Zelda.” Hayao Miyazaki ’s works are tinged with autobiographical moments, such as his mother’s hospitalization with tuberculosis — an element of both “My Neighbor Totoro” and “The Wind Rises” — or his father building rudders for fighter planes during World War II, a piece of his own history we see alluded to in the Oscar-winning “The Boy and The Heron.” And for Miyazaki in particular, art and life are nearly one and the same as we come to learn in this year’s documentary that sneakily landed on Max this summer, “Hayao Miyazaki and The Heron.” The documentary chronicles the entire production timeline for “The Boy and The Heron,” starting with Miyazaki announcing his retirement in 2013 through to the film’s Oscar win this year. The iconic director has been the subject of a few documentaries in the past, but in those, Miyazaki always remained guarded, never really letting the viewer understand the man we have so endlessly mythologized. His politics are evident in the films he has made over the past 40 years, but what motivates this man, now nearly 84 years old, to create the worlds of “Nausicaa,” “Castle in the Sky” or the Great Uncle’s tower in “The Boy and The Heron”? Much like Fujino in “Look Back,” the answer seems to be human connection. Throughout “Hayao Miyazaki and The Heron” there is an urgency to Miyazaki’s work. People close to him are passing away; there is guilt and there is sadness. “Why am I still here? Why am I the one that lived?” he wonders aloud. Miyazaki “reeks of death” like Mahito the titular boy of the film. But he storyboards furiously, creating characters based on the people he has lost. Michiyo Yasuda, the color designer on Miyazaki’s films at Studio Ghibli, passed away in 2016, but she appears in the documentary’s footage like a ghost, a vision of the past that haunts the present day Miyazaki. She was the one who told him to make another film, and he felt a sense of obligation to do it. He creates Kiriko in “The Boy and The Heron” based on Yasuda. But no one looms larger than Isao Takahata, Studio Ghibli co-founder and director, who passed away in 2018. And it's in their relationship where it becomes clear that nearly everything Miyazaki has ever made has been driven by the man he affectionately calls Pak-san. Pak-san, Pak-san, Pak-san. A clap of thunder rumbles in the distance while on a walk. “That’s Pak-san.” When Miyazaki is asked if he ever dreams, he responds “Only about Pak-san.” A missing eraser is Pak-san playing a trick on him. Studio Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki says that “Miyazaki idolized Takahata, but it was always one-sided.” The Boy and the Heron (Hayao Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli) Miyazaki agonizes over the character of the Great Uncle who has built the fantastical world of the tower in “The Boy and The Heron.” The character is Pak-san. In this one-sided relationship, made even more so by the divide between the living and the dead, Miyazaki is determined to show the world who Takahata was. He wants people to know what this man meant to him. The man who was his idol, his rival, his friend. The documentary cuts to a particularly powerful quote from Takahata back in the ‘80s, talking about Miyazaki, where he says, “I’d like to see him make all kinds of films. There are things he hasn’t shown me. I hope to see them one day.” The interview cuts to a wide shot showing Miyazaki beside him with a beaming smile, “Really?” he asks Takahata gleefully. This is how art comes to be. For Miyazaki. For Fujino in “Look Back.” It is driven by the desire for human connection, by wanting to express one’s self to someone, to honor someone who has passed to ensure that they are remembered. Which is why when AI software is used to generate an image , or write a story, it is so revolting . You can’t tell AI to create the Great Uncle. You can’t tell it to create an old man who kinda looks like a wizard who was the whole world to me and everything I did was for him and all I wanted was for him to see my films and enjoy them and I want people to know that. It can’t convey that level of emotional depth, or any emotional depth. AI is mere facsimile (and poorly done at that), and yet, it has been integrated into nearly every piece of technology creating nothing but slop. Related "It's going to destroy jobs": When an AI image won a photo contest, its human refused the award AI is a threat to art, a threat to culture, a threat to humanity itself. How far are we willing to go to utterly dehumanize ourselves? Late capitalism is already turning us away from one another, with the convenience of technology isolating us, keeping us from making a connection to someone. Companies like Disney are fully on board with AI , where acting in a “responsible way” means, “How much can we get away with and not pay people for?” So don’t be surprised when a round of layoffs is announced, so more money can be funneled up to executives at the top. Companies like X are training their AI by using (read: stealing) art uploaded to the platform by artists. And it would be easy to write a whole thesis on how the demands of AI usage and development is causing emissions at companies like Microsoft to rise at a staggering rate, decimating any plans of reaching previously set carbon-neutrality goals. This AI slop, this soulless mimicry of human life, is accelerating the planet’s demise. AI is anti-human in all facets. How far are we willing to go to utterly dehumanize ourselves? 2024 felt like a year where, more than ever before, art was under attack. From corporate fat cats cutting jobs to AI software to humanities programs getting slashed in higher education, the assault on engaging with our world, and on engaging with art is in full effect. It is deeply distressing. But 2024 also produced a film that tells us why art needs to exist, why it is so special, and what it means to be human. “Look Back” yells from the rooftops that art is tough, it is work, but the reward is it connects us like nothing else can. Look Back (Tatsuki Fujimoto/Shueisha Art is beautiful because of the humanity it contains within it. There is energy in a work of art that cannot be quantified, cannot be calculated, cannot be replicated by a machine. It reflects us, it connects us, it bears all of our tragedy, all of our joy. I’m hardly the best writer out here. There are people who write much more eloquently than I do. I admire these writers greatly. But I just want to connect. I want someone to read my words. Someone. Anyone. Even if it just ends up being my family or friends. I have entire worlds inside my head that I want others to experience the way I see them in my mind’s eye. No AI program can scrape these worlds accurately out of my head. There are so many thoughts and ideas in here that I want to share. I hope that my words make someone feel something. I just have to do the work to get them onto the page. That, to me, is something very worth the effort. Art is what makes us human, so why would we want a robot to do it for us? I just want to connect. To prove that I’m alive. I’m not a machine. Read more about this topic The ethics of eating monsters "The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim" is another barrel-scraping twist on Tolkien "Blue Eye Samurai" addresses multiracial shame, "to be ostracized from both sides," in Edo-era Japan "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" is beyond subtitles — and the white gaze By Michael Lee Michael Lee is a writer who might take anime and video games a little too seriously. For more musings on animation, fandom and game worlds, follow him on X @kousatender . MORE FROM Michael Lee Related Topics ------------------------------------------ Ai Animation Anime Artificial Intelligence Best Of 2024 Commentary Hayao Miyazaki Look Back The Bird And The Heron Related Articles Advertisement:

On Monday, Dec. 2, Burnaby council voted with a majority of seven to two to cancel the planned trip to three of Burnaby’s sister cities: Kushiro in Japan, Hwaseong in South Korea, and Taichung in Taiwan. The trip, which was supposed to take place in September 2025 would have cost between $106,000 and $116,000 for three councillors and the mayor, as reported by the Beacon on Aug. 7, 2024. Mayor Mike Hurley was the first council member to say he opposed the trip during the meeting. “I will start this out by saying that I’m opposed to this at this time, although I would love to keep our sister city relationships going, and they are important, and they’ve been going for a long time; I just don’t think that this is the right time to be traveling, given the constraints on budgets that we’re going to see moving forward here,” Hurley said. Councillors Joe Keithley, Alison Gu, Daniel Tetrault, and Maita Santiago followed the mayor in opposing the trip due to its high cost and the fact that Burnaby residents are currently struggling to make ends meet. “It just seems very out of touch with what people are facing, and people are struggling to pay their own bills and rent, and us going on a trip that costs $15,000 a head just doesn’t seem right,” Tetrault said. “I also do think it’s worth re-looking at our whole sister city policy and analyzing future trips, whether it merits the cost for not only council, but staff, and also use of staff and council time.” Gu said the trip would also be high in emissions, environmental impact, and financial cost. Three councillors approved the trip and wanted it to occur: Sav Dhaliwal, Pietro Calendino, and Richard Lee. Dhaliwal spoke at length about the many benefits of the sister cities program and how these types of trips can help develop the city and bring new ideas, technologies, and other benefits and opportunities to Burnaby. Dhaliwal added that the sister cities program is “priceless.” “When we embarked on this journey of having friendship and sister cities, it was with the intention of creating some worldwide harmony, learning from each other, and having to share our cultures,” Dhaliwal said. “I had the opportunity to go to Japan once many years ago, to the Kushiro sister city and I marvel at what we learned and what we have gained from that relationship.” Calendino, who is the chair of the International Relations and Friendship Cities Committee, said he was disappointed in the opposition to the trip. “I’m a little bit disappointed at the reaction of the councillors and yourself, Mr. Mayor. This is not something new. We’ve been discussing this for almost a year,” Calendino said. “And to clarify one thing, this does not come from taxpayers’ draw. This comes from game funds, which are to be used for a one-time activity.” Calendino added that while the cost seems excessive in the report, there are options for travel that do not include business-class airfare and may reduce the cost. Lee wanted to direct staff to look into alternative funding sources and explore the possibility of councillors paying a portion of the trip expenses out of pocket. Gu requested that Lee put forward a formal motion about it. “I would appreciate the opportunity to actually vote on that because staff resources are quite limited, and I wouldn’t want us wasting time on something if there wasn’t actually council support for something,” Gu said. Lee’s motion was unsuccessful, and the majority of council members voted against the trip.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Penn State players have watched make opponents look silly all season. They don’t want to be the next defenders Boise State’s star posterizes with jukes, spin moves, stiff arms and heavy shoulders. But they also know that slowing down Jeanty, who finished second in , will be their toughest task yet when the two teams meet in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal Fiesta Bowl on Dec. 31. “In any other year, I think the guy wins the Heisman,” Penn State coach James Franklin said. “You could make the argument that he should have won it this year. He is hard to tackle. He is compact, 5-(foot)-10, he has the ability to run away from you. He has the ability to make you miss.” Jeanty led the nation with 2,497 rushing yards on 344 carries this season. He scored more touchdowns (30) than any player since Najee Harris scored 30 times with Alabama in 2020. Additionally, Jeanty’s yards after contact (1,889) exceed every FBS running backs’ rushing total since Oklahoma State’s Chuba Hubbard led the NCAA with 2,094 total rushing yards in 2019. Jeanty also forced an NCAA-record 143 missed tackles this season. The junior did it all behind an offensive line that has been forced to shuffle its parts in the wake of numerous injuries. Only left tackle Kage Casey and left guard Ben Dooley have started every game up front for the Broncos this season. “He’s a beast in terms of his production on the field, but then also his durability,” Franklin said. “There’s not too many people that are able to get clean shots on him. All of it is super impressive. But I think the stat that I mentioned earlier, the most impressive stat is the yards after contact.” This could be Jeanty’s biggest challenge to date, too. Although he’s helped Boise State churn out 250 rushing yards per game, good for fifth among FBS programs, the Nittany Lions are well stocked to defend the run. Their defense is seventh nationally allowing just 100 rushing yards per game and has tightened up down the stretch. In its last six games, Penn State is allowing just 2.7 yards per rush and has only given up three rushing touchdowns, two coming in against No. 1 Oregon. “They’ve had our backs throughout the whole year,” Penn State quarterback Drew Allar said. “They have made me a lot better throughout the year, just going against the best defense in America and just glad I got to go against them every day in practice and not against them out on the field in a game setting.” In the opening round of the CFP, Penn State held SMU to just 58 rushing yards on 36 carries. Meanwhile, the Nittany Lions notched 11 of their 50 tackles for loss over the last six games against the Mustangs. Most of those came from a defensive line that regularly rotates run-stuffing tackles Zane Durant, Dvon J-Thomas and Coziah Izzard between dynamic ends Abdul Carter and Dani Dennis-Sutton. Carter alone has 21 1/2 of his team’s 102 stops behind the line of scrimmage this year. He’s hoping to add a few against Jeanty and stay off the star back’s own long-running highlight reel. “I’m living in my dreams,” Carter said. “I’m having the most fun I ever had playing football and I’ve been playing since I was 8 years old. I’m very blessed. I’m just very humbled to have this opportunity. I just want to keep taking advantage of all the opportunities that I have.”

SQUEEZING a bright-blue piping bag with my right hand, I attempt to disgorge an ornate ring of forest green buttercream around the base of my vanilla sponge cake. For the last 90 minutes, my friend James and I have been mixing cake batter, folding buttercream, and getting creative with fondant icing as if we’re contestants on the hit Channel 4 show, The Great British Bake Off. 3 Hope gets creative mixing cake batter and folding buttercream Credit: Supplied 3 Hope shows off her finished cake before the head baker's inspection Credit: Supplied Thankfully, Paul Hollywood won’t be carving our vanilla sponge to smithereens because we’re on a day out at The Big London Bake East, in Haggerston, East London. Here, you can tackle Bake Off-style challenges with friends or colleagues, under the watchful guidance of an expert baker. Creative fun, no experience required. Ideal for birthdays, work days out or other occasions. Our Christmas theme is a Festive Wreath Cake. READ MORE ON BAKE OFF butter up Great British Bake Off bosses issue major update on Channel 4 show’s future she's off Shock Moment Alison Hammond suffers awkward fall on Bake Off leaving fans stunned Sponge layers But the first challenge was finding the elusive tent. Its entrance is hidden behind a retro fridge door, leading to a bar where we enjoy a festive cocktail before the main event. Inside the main baking tent, which looks just like the one on TV, are 12 baking stations, each equipped with every baking utensil a baker could wish for. Pine garlands decorated with fairy lights hang from the walls, while a Christmas playlist gets us properly into the festive spirit. Most read in Best of British JINGLE BELLES Inside UK's 'poshest train' as it gets set to arrive in Glasgow for Christmas FEELING FESTIVE Scots Xmas market named Europe's most beautiful & tops another festive list WANDER-FUL Idyllic 4.5-mile walk between two of Scotland's most beautiful seaside villages INN LOVE Inside the stunning hotel with exquisite food and a Treetop Spa All our ingredients have been pre-weighed and we’re given a comprehensive list of instructions – there’s no room for any Christmas miracles here. Easy air fryer bakes with Lucy Parissi After our head baker gives us a rundown of what we’re producing that day, we’re left to bake. While making the cake batter and buttercream icing is simple enough, the real fun is had in Creation Corner. As the name suggests, one corner of the room is filled with cake-decorating supplies – liquid flavourings and decorative toppings like crushed Oreo , ground Biscoff, tiny pretzels, chocolate-covered nuts and dried fruits. Every so often our head baker – channelling the TV show’s vibe as created by Paul Hollywood and fellow judge Prue Leith , as well as hosts Alison Hammond and Noel Fielding – tells us how long is left on the clock. But despite the time pressure, it’s all about fun here and we order another cocktail to our station using the QR code on the bench. We harness the festive feeling in the room to give our cake its finishing touches – adding the charming Christmas characters my friend James has crafted using fondant. Even though it feels like it has all passed in a flash, our time is then up and our cakes are to be judged and a winner decided. The head baker cuts into each cake , commenting on the sponge layers, buttercream and decoration. Our sponge and buttercream are both complimented, which leaves me pleased. We aren’t named star bakers, but the fact we get to take our scrumptious cake home is reward enough. Read more on the Scottish Sun COMIC'S CASTLE Still Game star takes £150,000 hit to offload luxury £4m Scots castle HITTING THE HIGH NOTES Much-loved pub named best music bar in Scotland We feel like winners, regardless. Christmas Bake Specials at The Big London Bake East from £49.90pp. Also available at their London South, Manchester and Birmingham venues. See thebigbakes.com. 3 The Big London Bake East, in Haggerston, East London, is a great day out Credit: SuppliedCboe Global Markets Inc. stock outperforms competitors despite losses on the day

Iowa quarterback Cade McNamara released a statement Friday slamming the "100% false" media reports that suggested he had thrown his final pass for the Hawkeyes. McNamara has been sidelined since sustaining a concussion during the Oct. 26 win against Northwestern. Backup quarterback Brendan Sullivan has started the last two games for the Hawkeyes (6-4, 4-3 Big Ten) but is out with an ankle injury for Saturday's game at Maryland (4-6, 1-6). Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said earlier this week that Jackson Stratton will be the likely starter against the Terrapins if McNamara is unavailable. McNamara's cloudy status prompted speculation on a podcast this week that he was "not mentally ready to play." The podcast hosts from the Des Moines Register and The Athletic also suggested that McNamara -- who played three years at Michigan (2020-22) before transferring to Iowa -- is not "fit to play quarterback in the Big Ten right now." "We don't want to bury his career yet, but it does seem like that interception against Northwestern was his last snap as a Hawkeye," Leistikow said. McNamara, who passed for 1,017 yards with six touchdowns and five interceptions in eight games this season, released a statement updating his current status. "My status is the same as it's always been -- a proud member of this football team," he said. McNamara said he has not yet been cleared to play. He said he was cleared to practice on Sunday but suffered an "adverse reaction" and was unable to practice this week and therefore unable to travel with the team to Maryland. "I have been working with the University of Iowa doctors and trainers, a concussion specialist focused on vision training, as well as engaging in hyperbaric treatments as frequently as possible," McNamara said. "I have every intention to play versus Nebraska next Friday night and I am confident that my teammates will return from Maryland with a win." Including his time with the Wolverines, McNamara has completed 60.9 percent of his passes for 4,703 yards with 31 touchdowns and 15 interceptions in 34 games. --Field Level Media