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Week 12 TNF: Steelers-Browns Preview, Props & PredictionKINGSTON, Ont. — Arnaud Desjardins had 320 passing yards and Felipe Forteza booted six field goals to lead the Laval Rouge et Or to a 22-17 victory over the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks in the Vanier Cup on Saturday. It was the record 12th Canadian university football title for the Quebec champions, who handed the Ontario champion Golden Hawks their first loss of the year. Ryan Hughes and Jaxon Stebbings caught touchdown passes for Laurier. Golden Hawks quarterback Taylor Elgersma won the Hec Crighton Trophy as the outstanding U Sports football player earlier in the week but it was Desjardins who shone early on a breezy, chilly afternoon at Richardson Stadium. Desjardins, a finalist for the award, completed his first 22 pass attempts. Forteza split the uprights five times in the first half to help Laval take a 17-7 lead into the intermission. Forteza’s sixth field goal with 2:31 left in the game set a Vanier Cup record. The Golden Hawks had to punt on their next possession and were pinned in their own end when they got the ball back in the dying seconds. Laurier had an 8-0 record in the regular season and outscored its opposition 128-76 over its first three playoff wins. Laval entered at 10-1 overall (7-1, 3-0) and was coming off two close victories over the last two weeks. A near-capacity crowd at the 8,000-seat Queen’s University venue appeared to be an even split of Laurier and Laval supporters on opposite sides of the field. The weather cooperated after two days of showers in the area. It was cloudy and 8 C at kickoff. Desjardins marched the Rouge et Or deep into Laurier territory on Laval’s first possession before settling for an 18-yard field goal by Forteza. Laval used a no-huddle offence in the early going with Desjardins frequently using dump passes to great effect. The Rouge et Or used a nine-play, 63-yard drive that ended with a Forteza chip shot from 15 yards out. The potent Rouge et Or defence, which led U Sports with just 106 points allowed in the regular season, made an early statement as Jordan Lessard forced a fumble from Elgersma that the Golden Hawks recovered. On the next play, Ndeki Garant-Doumambila walloped the Laurier pivot with a ferocious sack. Laurier didn’t record a first down until late in the first quarter. Laval had a 128-39 edge in total yards over the first 15 minutes. Laval’s special-teams play was also on point. Forteza booted a 73-yard punt and the Rouge et Or coverage swarmed returner Tayshaun Jackson, forcing him down at the Laurier one-yard line. The Golden Hawks would concede a safety to make it 8-0. Forteza added to the lead at 7:01 with a 35-yard field goal. Jackson gave Laurier some life when he broke for a 51-yard run to the Laval five-yard line. Hughes took a shovel pass from Elgersma and sprinted for the corner of the end zone to put the Golden Hawks on the scoreboard. Desjardins guided the Laval offence on a 46-yard drive capped by a 32-yard field goal by Forteza with 2:33 left in the half. Laurier’s ensuing possession was a short one as Lessard forced another fumble and Jackson lost the ball at his 42-yard line. Forteza’s 32-yard kick made it 17-7. The Golden Hawks came out with more jump in the third quarter. Elgersma found Ethan Jordan for a 45-yard reception to highlight a 93-yard drive capped by Stebbings’ three-yard TD catch and Dawson Hodge’s conversion. Laval took a 19-14 lead when Laurier conceded a safety to open the fourth quarter. Hodge made it a two-point game when he hit a 34-yard field goal with 8:26 left. With 4:57 remaining, Laval’s Loic Brodeur forced a fumble at midfield. He knocked the ball out of Elgersma’s hands and Garant-Doumambila recovered. The Golden Hawks beat Queen’s 29-21 before topping Western 51-31 to win the Ontario championship. Laurier looked just as strong on the road, handing the Atlantic champion Bishop’s Gaiters their first loss of the year with a 48-24 rout. Laval’s route to the Vanier Cup started with a comfortable 41-18 win over Concordia. The Rouge et Or then beat the 2023 Vanier champion Montreal Carabins 22-17 for the Quebec title before earning a 17-14 road win over the Canada West champion Regina Rams. The Golden Hawks fell to 2-4 all-time in the national championship game. Laval, which improved to 12-2 all-time, last won the title in 2022. The Rouge et Or had won both previous meetings against the Golden Hawks. The victories – in 2004 and 2016 – came in the Uteck Bowl at Quebec City. The 2025 Vanier Cup will be played in Regina.Dejounte Murray is rejoining the Pelicans against Raptors and drawing inspiration from his mother

TORONTO — CBC is restoring its annual live New Year's Eve celebration. A year after the national broadcaster cancelled the 2024 special due to "financial pressures," it says the countdown is back on the TV schedule to mark the dawn of 2025. Programming begins Dec. 31 with the one-hour "22 Minutes New Year's Eve Pregame Special," a satirical reflection on the year passed with the cast of the political comedy series "This Hour Has 22 Minutes." It will be followed by "Canada Live! Countdown 2025," a special hosted by news anchor Adrienne Arsenault and singer Jann Arden broadcasting live from Toronto's Harbourfront Centre, and anchor Ian Hanomansing and comedian Ali Hassan at Vancouver's VanDusen Botanical Garden. The coast-to-coast show will feature CBC reporters across the country as they count down to the new year in each of the six time zones. Last year, the CBC replaced its live New Year's programming with a taped Just For Laughs special hosted by comedian Mae Martin. It left Canadian viewers without a homegrown countdown on any of the major networks. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 12, 2024. David Friend, The Canadian PressChina appears to have recently conducted the trial run of the high-speed rail, the CR450. Tipped to be the world’s fastest commercial train, the CR450 is expected to start operations in 2025. The train, which has a trial speed of 280 mph (450km/h), was reportedly on a trial run from Tianjin to Beijing. A series of videos showcasing the train surfaced on social media in November before being taken down. Train resembles an arrow when viewed from the side The train resembles an arrow when viewed from the side. Its sleek, bullet-shaped nose has slightly angular contours, while the cockpit has decorative breathing lights. Last month’s apparently leaked test video featured a train marked CR450AF-0001, while the latest images show an eight-car CR450 with its serial number covered by white tape, reported SCMP . The CR450 bullet train, China’s most recently designed high-speed train model, will be able to operate at speeds of 248 miles (400 kilometers) per hour during commercial run. The new model is significantly faster than the CR400 Fuxing high-speed trains currently in service, which operate at speeds of 350 kilometers per hour. CR450 is 12 percent lighter Compared to the CR400, the CR450 is 12 percent lighter, consumes 20 percent less energy, and has a 20 percent improved braking performance, according to China Railway. The CR450 innovation project also involves technological innovation in infrastructure, including high-speed railways, bridges and tunnels. China claims that it has built the world’s largest high-speed railway network to address the people’s growing demand for convenient and comfortable travel. The total operational length of its high-speed railway network has exceeded 27961 miles (45,000 kilometers), with Fuxing high-speed trains operating across 31 provincial-level regions nationwide, as per the data available till April 2024. Chengdu-Chongqing Central Line could be possible route Last month’s apparently leaked test video featured a train marked CR450AF-0001, while the latest images show an eight-car CR450 with its serial number covered by white tape. The body is unpainted but the Fuxing branding of China’s bullet trains is visible, highlighting that the new train builds upon the foundation of the CR400, which debuted in 2017, according to SCMP . As per the details released in September, in a single day, China’s railway network transports over 10 million passengers, making it the busiest rail system globally. These bustling services demonstrate China’s vitality, with the railway network reaching 99 percent of cities across the country, each with a population of over 200,000, and the high-speed rail network covering 96 percent of cities, each with a population surpassing 500,000. The recent videos of CR450 have fueled speculations about its possible route. Reports have suggested that the Chengdu-Chongqing Central Line could be its possible route as the Beijing-Shanghai line might require upgrades.

POET Technologies Inc POET shares are trading lower Thursday after the company announced a $25 million public offering . What Happened: POET announced plans to complete a non-brokered public offering of 5 million units at a price of $5 per unit. Each unit will be comprised of one share of common stock and one-half of one common share purchase warrant. The warrants will be exercisable for five years to acquire one common share at a price of $6. The offering is expected to close on or about Dec. 19. POET said it anticipates gross proceeds of $25 million. The company expects to use any net proceeds for working capital and general corporate purposes. The offering comes just weeks after POET announced a $25 million registered direct offering . The company said at the time that it planned to use net proceeds from that offering for working capital related to POET’s recently announced plans to expand assembly operations into Malaysia. POET Technologies offers high-speed optical engines, light source products and custom optical modules to the AI systems market and to hyperscale data centers. See Also: Stocks Slip On Hot Inflation Data, Adobe Tumbles, Natural Gas Hits 1-Year High: What’s Driving Markets Thursday? POET Price Action: POET shares were down 9.25% at $4.36 at the time of publication Thursday, according to Benzinga Pro . Photo: courtesy of POET Technologies. © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.Stan Druckenmiller’s Bold Move! Broadcom, Not Nvidia, Captures His AttentionNoneArsenal go second with 1-0 win over struggling Ipswich

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2024 Was Truly the End of the 'End of History'

A Chinese film set during the Covid-19 pandemic won the top prizes in Taiwan's prestigious Golden Horse Awards, which saw the highest number of entries from China in recent years despite political tensions. Beijing banned its entertainers from joining Golden Horse -- dubbed the Chinese-language "Oscars" -- in 2019 after a Taiwanese director voiced support for the island's independence in an acceptance speech in 2018. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory, which the Taipei government rejects, and Chinese A-listers and big commercial productions have largely avoided the event ever since. Despite the sensitivity of the awards, more than 200 Chinese films entered this year's competition, which Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said was the highest number in "recent years". Acclaimed Chinese filmmaker Lou Ye was awarded best director late Saturday night for his docu-drama "An Unfinished Film", which was also named best picture. Lou was absent from the ceremony but his wife Ma Yingli read his acceptance speech, describing the film set during China's lockdown of Wuhan in the earliest stages of the pandemic as "the most special directing job I have ever done". Chinese actor Zhang Zhiyong, who also did not attend the awards, won best actor for his performance in Chinese director Geng Jun's same-sex drama "Bel Ami". Hong Kong's Chung Suet-ying was named best actress for her role in "The Way We Talk", which is about the deaf community. Neither "Bel Ami" nor "An Unfinished Film" has been released in China. Ahead of the awards, MAC spokesman Liang Wen-chieh told reporters that these films "may not be able to be screened in mainland China, but they still hope to have a free platform to participate and express themselves". "We welcome (them) very much," he said. After several years absence, Chinese stars began trickling back to the awards in Taipei last year, with actress Hu Ling the first to grace the red carpet since the ban. On Saturday, Geng Jun and some of his cast were among the few Chinese entertainers to join stars and filmmakers from around the region, including Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan, on the red carpet. While Geng missed out on best director and best picture, his film "Bel Ami" won the awards for best cinematography and best film editing. Despite political tensions, Golden Horse remained a stage for independent Chinese films that have no distribution space on the mainland, Taiwanese film critic Wonder Weng told AFP. "This spirit remains unchanged. I think the Golden Horse Awards have always insisted on being the benchmark" that is open to all subjects, said Weng, who is a board member of Taiwan Film Critics Society. Weng said "An Unfinished Film" by Lou, who has previously taken on forbidden subjects such as gay sex and the 1989 Tiananmen protests, was "a work of conscience". Lou's latest offering is about a film crew trying to resume shooting a movie during the Covid-19 pandemic in Wuhan, as the city was placed in an unprecedented lockdown. "Lou put images that are banned or blocked into his work and reminds us that there is a director who is willing to preserve historical images for us to see... and let us know there is a different voice," Weng said. aw/amj/dhcAhead of Ohio State's appearance in the College Football Playoff, head coach Ryan Day received a vote of confidence from his athletic director despite the Buckeyes' latest loss to Michigan. Ohio State AD Ross Bjork appeared on 97.1 The Fan in Columbus on Thursday, where a radio host asked him whether Day would be the Buckeyes' coach at the start of next season regardless of how the playoffs shake out. "Absolutely," said Bjork, who came to Ohio State from the same role at Texas A&M in July. "Coach Day and I have just hit it off so well. I've been really, really impressed. Every single time I've talked to him, I've learned something. He's innovative. He recruits at the highest level. He's got a great staff. There's always tweaks. There was tweaks after last year, right? You're always going to tweak things. You're always going to make adjustments. You're always going to make improvements." Bjork continued by addressing the "championship or bust" attitude held by some of the fanbase. "This whole mentality about -- and look, we live it, and we sign up for it -- but if you get fixated on the end result and not have the process fully baked every time, you're going to lose," Bjork said. "The mindset's going to lose because you're only fixated on one thing. And so what we have to do is this whole ‘championship or bust' mentality, you want that as the goal, but it has to be about the process. "To me, we've got to maybe change some conversations a little bit. I think we need to maybe just approach things a little bit differently." Day is 66-10 as Ohio State's coach and led the Buckeyes to one national championship game appearance, a 52-24 loss to Alabama to cap the 2020 season. Ohio State went 10-2 in the regular season but missed out on a place in the Big Ten championship game when rival Michigan defeated the Buckeyes 13-10 on Nov. 30. It was Michigan's fourth straight win in The Game, and Day is now 1-4 as a head coach against the Wolverines. At the time, Bjork released a statement of support for Day, and he doubled down during Thursday's radio hit. "He's great to work with. He totally gets it. He loves being a Buckeye, and so we're going to support him at the highest level throughout," Bjork said. "But here's the thing too, and the reason why we needed to say something after that game is we're still breathing. They're still alive. The season's not over. The book is not closed, right? And so we've got to have confidence. I mean, Ohio State should be confident every single day. We're Ohio State. "But we also have to make sure we stay to our values and we stick to what we believe in. And so to me, it's the process as much as it is about the end result." --Field Level Media

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